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. 2017 Feb 6;8:90. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00090

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-conditioning targets exo-erythrocytic form (EEF)-containing hepatocytes for mitochondrial-independent apoptosis. Effect of HGF on the mRNA expression of selected apoptosis-related markers Pik3r1 (A), Hif-α (B), Caspase 3 (C), and Bid (D) in infected (INF) and non-infected (non-INF) hepatocyte cultures at 24 h p.i. Results represent qRT-PCR estimates relative to non-infected untreated hepatocyte cultures. Effects of HGF pre-treatment on the viability of primary hepatocytes at 24 h p.i. with Plasmodium berghei sporozoites: (E) apoptotic cells containing EEFs, (F) total apoptotic cells (TUNEL; TUNEL-positive), and (G) size distribution of EEFs harbored in apoptotic cells. (H) Representative immunofluorescence images of primary hepatocyte cultures in the presence (right) or absence (left) of HGF pre-treatment, evidencing larger EEFs in TUNEL + cells after HGF pre-treatment (TUNEL-positive nuclei in red, DAPI-positive in blue and EEFs in green; scale bar 10 µm) (non-parametric Mann–Whitney test, *p < 0.05, **p ≤ 0.001, and ***p ≤ 0.0001). Data are represented as mean ± SD of triplicate cultures that were performed in at least three independent experiments.