Fig. 1: Mitophagy is enhanced in parallel with increased apoptosis in primary hepatic stellate cells during the reversal of hepatic fibrosis.

a TUNEL staining of primary HSCs derived from the indicated mice; scale bar, 25 μm. Bar graph represents the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001 vs. the indicated groups. b Annexin V-FITC/PI double-staining and flow cytometry analysis of primary HSCs; bar graph represents the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001 vs. the indicated groups. c Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) measured by PicoGreen staining; scale bar, 10 μm. d Representative western blots of the mitochondrial membrane protein TOM20 with GAPDH serving as the internal reference