Figure 2.

Mcl-1 deficiency resulted in increased hepatocyte apoptosis and subsequent compensatory liver regeneration after 4 weeks of age. Two-week-old male Mcl-1^fl/fl and Mcl-1^Δhep mice injected with PBS or DEN (20 mg/kg BW) were sacrificed at 2, 4 and 6 weeks of age. (A) Representative immunoblots of the indicated proteins in the liver lysates of two-week-old mice. Full-length blots/gels are presented in Supplementary Fig. 1. (B) Serum ALT levels and caspase 3/7 activity (n ≥ 8 per group, mean ± SEM, Mann–Whitney test). (C–E) Representative images of liver sections stained with anti-cleaved caspase-3 antibody (C), PCNA antibody, and Ki-67 antibody (E) (left) (n ≥ 4 per group). The scale bar is 50 µm. Each positive hepatocyte ratio was quantified and is shown as a percentage (right) (mean ± SEM, Mann–Whitney test, *p < 0.05).