Figure 4. Ablation of hepatocyte IKKα accelerates hepatocyte reparative proliferation.
(A) Tissue extracts were immunoblotted with anti-IKKα or anti-α-tubulin antibodies. (B–F) IKKαf/f (n = 6) and IKKαΔhep (n = 6) male littermates were subjected to PHx, and livers were harvested 48 hr later. (B) Liver sections were immunostained with anti-Ki67 antibody, and Ki67+ cells were counted and normalized to total DAPI+ cells. Day 0 and 1: n = 4 per group; day 3: IKKαf/f: n = 6, IKKαΔhep: n = 8; day 5: IKKαf/f: n = 9, IKKαΔhep: n = 8; day 7: IKKαf/f: n = 6, IKKαΔhep: n = 5. (C) Representative images of liver sections costained with anti-Ki67 and anti-HNF4α antibodies. (D) Liver cyclin D1 was measured by immunoblotting (normalized to α-tubulin levels). (E) TUNEL-positive cells in liver sections. (F) Liver to body weight ratios. Day 0 and 1: n = 4 per group; day 3: IKKαf/f: n = 6, IKKαΔhep: n = 8; day 5: IKKαf/f: n = 9, IKKαΔhep: n = 8; day 7: IKKαf/f: n = 6, IKKαΔhep: n = 5. Data were statistically analyzed with two-tailed Student’s t test, and presented as mean ± SEM. *p<0.05.