Fig. 3.

STING signaling activation in LPS-treated KCs enhances hepatocyte death. (A–C) Western blot analysis of MLKL, p-MLKL and cleaved-caspase3 expression in hepatocytes in each group. Primary hepatocytes were isolated from WT, STING^gt, or DMX-treated WT mice with or without LPS challenge (n = 6). (D) The protocol of in vitro experiments for detection of hepatocyte death regulated by STING activation in KCs. KCs were isolated from untreated WT and STING^gt mice. WT KCs treated with DMX (25 μg/mL) for 12 h were labeled as DMX WT KCs. Then WT, STING^gt and DMX WT KCs were treated with PBS or LPS (100 ng/mL) for 12 h. The supernatant of KCs was collected as conditional medium (KC-CM) for 12 h incubation of hepatocytes isolated from WT mice. (E–F) The hepatocyte death rate measured by Annexin V and PI staining (n = 4). (G–H) ALT and AST concentrations in the medium of hepatocytes (n = 4). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ns, no significance.