XL-001 reduces renal fibrosis in obstructive nephropathy. (a) Experimental design. (b) Representative micrographs show that XL-001 reduced renal interstitial collagen deposition and fibrosis. Kidney sections were subjected to Masson's trichrome staining (MTS). Arrow indicates positive staining. Scale bar, 50 μm. XL (10), XL-001 (10 mg/kg body weight); XL (20), XL-001 (20 mg/kg body weight). (c) Graphic presentation of kidney fibrotic lesions in different groups after quantitative determination. *P < 0.05 versus sham controls; †P < 0.05 versus UUO alone. (d) Representative macrographs show collagen I and α-SMA protein expression in different groups as indicated. Arrows indicate positive staining. Scale bar, 50 μm. (e) Western blotting analyses show renal protein levels of fibronectin, α-SMA, β-catenin, PAI-1 and Snail1 in different groups. Numbers (1 to 3) represent different individual animals in a given group. (f–i) Graphic presentations of renal fibronectin (f), α-SMA (g), β-catenin (h), PAI-1 and Snail1 (i) proteins in different groups as indicated. †P < 0.05 versus UUO alone.