Figure 3.

GC inhibition of profibrotic gene expression is amplified by 11βHSD1 in murine HSCs in vitro. mRNA levels of Acta2 (A) and Col1α1 (B) in C57Bl6/J HSCs in primary culture for 8 days treated with combinations of vehicle (white bars), 500 nM 11‐dehydrocorticosterone (compound A, vertical striped bars), 500 nM corticosterone (compound B, horizontal striped bars), 10 μM UE2316 (compound U, gray bars), and the combination of A+B (black bars). Levels of mRNAs of interest are expressed relative to 18S RNA. Experiments were conducted in triplicate: ^* P < 0.05, ^** P < 0.01. Abbreviation: A.U., arbitrary unit.