Figure 7
Zone 1-HSC cells do not transform into myofibroblasts in a model of MASH. (a) SMMHC-tdTomato reporter mice were injected with tamoxifen (tam) on 5 consecutive days to induce the expression of the fluorescent dye tdTomato under control of the SMMHC promoter (SMMHC-tdTomato). 45 days later, mice received a Western diet consisting of high fat diet supplemented with 0.2% cholesterol and 42 g/l fructose in drinking water. Animals were sacrificed after 32 weeks, and livers were then isolated, fixed and analyzed. tdTomato fluorescence is shown in red. (b) Co-localization of tdTomato and αSMA (b1-b3, green; enlargement in b4-b6) was not detected under these conditions. (c) Similarly, there was no co-localization of tdTomato and col1α1 (c1-c3, enlargement in c4-c6). Filled arrowheads indicate αSMA+ (b) or col1α1+ (c) cells negative for tdTomato; empty arrowheads in (b) indicate adjacent αSMA-/tdTomato+ cells. Note that green staining is in most cases located in the gaps between tdTomato-positive HSC.
