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. 2022 Oct 12;77(6):1968–1982. doi: 10.1002/hep.32776

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2

Stimulation with recombinant IL‐18 accelerates HSC activation in vitro, whereas blockage of IL‐18 signaling inhibits HSC activation. (A) Representative immunofluorescence images and (B) their quantification by the corrected total cell fluorescence showing αSMA and Collagen I of HSCs after treatment with either 100 ng/ml or 400 ng/ml rmIL‐18 after 24 h. (C) mRNA levels of Ctgf, Col1a1, and Acta2 of primary murine HSCs after rmIL‐18 stimulation. (D) Immunofluorescence images and (E) mRNA levels of Ctgf, Col1a1, and Acta2 of primary HSCs treated with LPS/ATP and additional pretreatment with rmIL‐18BP. αSMA, alpha smooth muscle actin; ATP, adenosine triphosphate; BP, binding protein; Col1a1, collagen type I alpha 1; Ctgf, connective tissue growth factor; HSC, hepatic stellate cell; LPS, lipopolysaccharide; rm, recombinant mouse. 3–4 independent replicates were included for all measured values; upper scale bars represent 50 μm. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ****p < 0.0001.