Fig. 4: HSC-specific depletion of Atf4 alleviates liver fibrosis in vivo.
8-week-old male Lrat-Cre-/-;Atf4fl/fl (WT) and Lrat-Cre+/-;Atf4fl/fl (HSC-Atf4-KO) littermates were administrated with CCl4 (0.5 ml/kg) or solvent control (corn oil) twice weekly for 5 weeks, n = 5–7 mice per group. a A schematic of the design of Lrat-Cre+/–;Atf4fl/fl (HSC-Atf4-KO) mice. b Western blots showing the expression of EMT and fibrotic marker genes in the liver tissues of the WT and HSC-Atf4-KO mice. The experiment was repeated three times. c qPCR analysis showing the expression of fibrotic marker genes in the liver tissues of (b) (n = 5 samples per group). Panels (d, e) representative images of Sirius red staining and Masson’s trichrome staining for liver tissues of (b) (n = 6 images derived from 3 mouse livers per group). f Hepatic collagen content of the liver tissues of (d) was determined by hydroxyproline quantification (n = 3 samples per group). g, Serum levels of ALT, AST, and TBIL from the experimental animals of (b) were measured (n = 4 samples per group). Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. Unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t tests were applied for (c, f, g). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
