Fig. 5.
Gut flora disequilibrium decreased microbiota-derived AhR ligands to promote liver tumorigenesis in mice by up-regulating SREBP2. (A) PCA analysis of fecal tryptophan metabolic data from ABX- or H2O-fed mice (n = 6 per group). (B) Heatmap showing that 24 tryptophan metabolites were detected in mice with ABX or H2O. (C) Heatmap showing decreased microbiota-derived AhR ligands in mice treated with ABX compared to mice treated with H2O. (D) Experimental procedure of Ficz administration. (E) Liver mRNA levels of Cyp1a1 and Srebf2 were determined by qRT-PCR before HTVi (n = 6 per group). (F) Liver levels of SREBP2 and HMGCR in each group before HTVi (n = 3 per group). (G) Representative macroscopic views of livers, H&E staining, and IHC of Ki67 in mouse HCCs. (H) The LW/BW ratio, tumor number, and the SW/BW ratio of each group (PBS, n = 9; Ficz, n = 8; ABX+PBS, n = 9; ABX+Ficz, n = 8). Data were presented as mean ± SEM, P values were calculated by Student’s t test. ns, not significant; *P <0.05; **P <0.01; ***P <0.001.