Figure 6

HuR stimulates activation of HSCs via SphK1.
(a) LX-2 was treated with SKI before transfected with pcDNA-flag-HuR plasmids, α-SMA and Col α1(I) protein expressions were evaluated. The cropped blots are used in the figure and full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure 8a. Cells were co-transfected with SphK1 siRNA and pcDNA-flag-HuR plasmids, mRNA (b) and protein (c) levels of SphK1 were examined to confirm the efficiency of SphK1 knockdown. α-SMA and Col α1(I) protein expressions (d) were detected. The cropped blots are used in the figure and full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure 7b. β-Tubulin levels were assessed as a loading control. The values were the mean intensity normalized of each band (fold over basal). Data are presented as the means ± SEM derived from at least three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, versus the control cells.