Figure 1

miR-21 ablation protects from MCD-induced steatohepatitis and fibrosis development. C57BL/6 WT and miR-21 KO mice were fed a control (n=5 for each time point) or MCD diet (n=8–10 for each time point and/or genetic background) for 2 and 8 weeks. (a) qRT-PCR analysis of miR-21 (left) and immunoblotting of PPARα (right). Representative blots are shown. Blots were normalized to endogenous β-actin. (b) H&E and Oil Red-O staining of representative liver sections. Scale bar, 100 μm. (c) qRT-PCR analysis of TNF-α and IL-1β. (d) Serum ALT levels. (e) TUNEL staining of liver tissue sections. Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst 33258 (blue). Scale bar, 30 μm. Histograms showing the percentage of TUNEL-positive cells (right). (f) Immunoblotting of active caspase-2. Representative blots are shown. Blots were normalized to endogenous β-actin. (g) qRT-PCR analysis of TGF-β and collagen-1α1 in mouse liver (left) and representative images of Masson’s Trichrome stained liver sections from MCD or control diet-fed mice for 8 weeks (right). Scale bar=100 μm. Results are expressed as mean±S.E.M. fold change. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001 from control; ^†P<0.05, ^‡P<0.01 and ^ϕP<0.001 compared with respective WT MCD-fed mice