Skip to main content
. 2020 Mar 16;130(4):2129–2145. doi: 10.1172/JCI132691

Figure 4. Adult hepatocytes are reprogrammed to fetal-like cells in proinflammatory cytokine-dependent spheroid culture systems.

Figure 4

(A) qRT-PCR for Esrp2 and YAP/TAZ target genes (Areg and Ptgs2) in freshly isolated primary mouse hepatocytes (pHEP) and primary hepatocytes cultured under spheroid-forming system for 18 days continuously treated with TNF-α, IL-1β, or TNF-α + IL-1β. Results are graphed as box and whiskers plots (min to max), and means are indicated as plus signs. (B and C) Alternative splicing of Nf2, Slk, Flnb, and Kras in primary hepatocytes as specified. The representative gel images are shown from at least 3 replicates (B). See full, unedited gels in the supplemental material. Results are graphed as box and whiskers plots (min to max), and means are indicated as plus signs (C). (D) Images of hepatocyte spheroids stained for YAP (left, red) and TAZ (right, red) visualized by whole-mount immunofluorescence. Nuclear counterstaining was done by DAPI (blue). Scale bars: 50 μm. (E) scRNA-Seq analysis for Esrp2, Areg, and Ptgs2 in primary hepatocytes (PRIMARY) and hepatocyte spheroids under TNF-α–mediated expansion medium (EXP) or TNF-α–withdrawn induction medium (IND) as described in a previous publication (38).