Figure 8.

Transmission of Exosomal miR-192 Released from Hepatocytes into HSCs and Effects of miR-192 Downregulation on Activated HSCs

(A) Experimental scheme: Huh-7 cells were transfected with Cy3-labeled miR-192, and exosomes were purified and used to treat LX-2 cells. (B) Confocal microscopy image of Cy3-labeled miR-192 (red), α-SMA, and DAPI staining in exosome-treated LX-2 cells is shown. An image of two representative fields is shown, and the scale bars represent 50 μm. (C) LX-2 cells were exposed to PBS or JFH-1 exosomes and then treated with scrambled RNA (scr) or anti-miR-192. Oil Red O staining image of LX-2 cells using a light microscope (left) and quantification of Oil-Red-O-stained cells using a microplate reader after destaining are shown (right). The results are representative of at least three independent experiments. (D) Immunoblot analysis of COL1A1, α-SMA, and TGF-β1 expression in exosome-exposed LX-2 cells treated with each RNA is shown. (E) Intracellular miR-192 levels in exosome-exposed LX-2 cells treated with each RNA were quantified and presented as the means of at least three independent experiments, each performed in triplicate. Error bars represent the SEM. p values were determined using a one-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.