Fig. 3. PPZ markedly suppressed the expression of hepatic fibrosis-related genes in HSCs.

LX-2 cells were starved for 24 h and then treated with TGF-β1 (2 ng· mL⁻¹) and different concentrations of PPZ for an additional 24 h. a The mRNA expression levels of COL1A1, ACTA2, MMP-2, and TGFβ1 in LX-2 cells were measured by real-time PCR. b Western blot analysis and semi‐quantitation of COL1A1, MMP-2, α‐SMA, TGFβ1, P-Smad2/3, and Smad2/3 protein levels in LX-2 cells. The data are presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 vs. the control group; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. the TGFβ1-treated group. c Mouse pHSCs were treated with 100 and 200 µM PPZ for 24 h after 7 d of isolation. The protein levels of COL1A1, MMP-2, α‐SMA, TGFβ1, P-Smad2/3, and Smad2/3 were measured using Western blot analysis. The data are presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. the control group of mouse pHSCs.