Fig. 4

rHGF/rRspo1 decreased liver fibrosis through the induction of Lgr5⁺ cells. a–c rHGF/rRspo1 decreased CCL4-induced liver fibrosis and recovered liver functions. CCL4-induced liver fibrosis and rHGF/rRspo1 protein treatments were described in Fig. 3g; the livers were harvested and stained using H&E and Sirius Red for fibrosis analysis (a). The serum was harvested for ALT and AST analysis (b, c). d–f rHGF/rRspo1 failed to decrease CCL4-induced liver fibrosis and recover the liver functions when Lgr5 was knocked down. CCL4-induced liver fibrosis and Ad-Lgr5 shRNA infections, and rHGF/rRspo1 protein treatments were described in Supplementary Fig. 15a; the livers were harvested and stained using H&E and Sirius Red for fibrosis analysis (d). The serum was harvested for ALT and AST analysis (e, f). For a, d, scale bars, 200 μm, the results are shown as mean ± s.d. of five independent sections taken randomly per mice, and a total of 50 tissue specimens in each group (n = 10 mice), *p < 0.05. For b, c, e, f, triplicates for each condition were analyzed. The results are shown as mean ± s.d. of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05