Figure 3.

Disruption of the IL‐17 gene impairs liver progenitor cell activation in regenerating liver. Wild‐type and IL‐17^−/− mice were fed a CDE diet and killed at the indicated time points. (A) Liver tissue sections were stained for CK19, and positive cell number quantification was realized. (B) Hepatic mRNA expression of LPC‐associated genes Afp, M₂pk, and Thy1 was analyzed by qRT‐PCR and expressed as fold change over control diet‐fed WT mice. (C,D) Liver tissue sections were immunolabeled with antibodies directed against CK19 (red) and Ki67 (green), and the percentage of proliferating CK19⁺ cells was determined. (E) Serum ALT, AST, and ALP activities were measured. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.005, WT versus IL‐17^−/− mice; each group n = 4‐7 animals. Data represent mean ± SEM. Abbreviations: ALP, alkaline phosphatase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; CT, control; d, day; DAPI, 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole; M₂pk, type 2 muscle pyruvate kinase; qRT‐PCR, quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction.