FIGURE 4.

Effects of NDRG2 on HSC activation and TGF-β1/MAPK signaling pathway activity. (A) LX-2 cells were transfected with siNDRG2 or siNC for 24 h and stimulated with 10 ng/mL TGF-β1 for another 24 h. Relative mRNA levels of ACTA2 and COL1A1 were analyzed by qRT-PCR. **P < 0.01 compared with the control group; ^##P < 0.01 compared with the TGF-β1 treatment group, as analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test. (B) The protein levels of α-SMA and COL1A1 were analyzed by western blotting. (C) LX-2 cells were treated as described above, except that the cells were stimulated with TGF-β1 for 30 min, and the protein levels of total and phosphorylated JNK and ERK1/2 were analyzed by western blotting. (D) LX-2 cells were transfected with siNDRG2 and siNC for 24 h, treated with the ERK inhibitor U0126 (10 μM) or the JNK inhibitor SP600125 (50 μM) for 2 h. The protein levels of α-SMA and COL1A1 were analyzed by western blotting.