Fig. 5.

(A) Therapeutic effects of HLSC transplantation according to transplant schemes. HLSCx group received a single transplant of 1×10⁷ cells. HLSC2x group received a single transplant of 2×10⁷ cells. HLSCxx group received 2 HLSC transplants with 1×10⁷ cells, 2 weeks apart. Liver tissues were obtained from rats at 10 weeks (baseline) and at 14 weeks after initiation of CCl₄ treatment (post 14w CCl₄). Extracellular deposition of collagen fibers was stained with Sirius red. Histopathological changes of liver sections were observed by staining with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). The presence of the transplanted HLSCs in the liver tissue was identified by immunohistoche-mistry using antibodies against human albumin (hALB). (B) Real-time qPCR analyses of ECM remodeling factors in rat liver specimens following three transplantation schemes. Significant increase in MMP2 and HGF expression is seen following HLSC transplantation. Significant decrease in TIMP1 and TIMP2 expression is seen following HLSC transplantation. These changes are not consistently observed in HLSC2x or HLSCxx schemes.