Fig. 8.

IL-33 mimicked long term TS exposure-induced CSC-like hepatic properties in vitro. LO2 cells were treated with IL-33 (10 μg/ml), CSE (1%) or IL-33 + 1% CSE for 7 days. a Immunofluorescent staining of p-p38 MAPK. b Fluorescence intensity of p-p38 relative to control group. c The expression levels of IL-33, EpCAM, Oct4, E-cadherin and Vimentin were detected by Western blotting. d-h Densitometric analyses of Western blotting for IL-33 (d), EpCAM (e), Oct4 (f), E-cadherin (g) and Vimentin (h) were measured after normalization to β-actin. Three independent experiments were performed. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. The significance was assessed with one-way ANOVA test. # P < 0.05, ## P < 0.01, compared with control. FA = filtered air; CSE = cigarette smoke extract