Fig. 1: Smad4 expression in hepatocytes is upregulated during NAFLD progression.

A, B Immunohistochemical staining of SMAD4 in a tissue microarray from NASH patients. A Representative Smad4 staining is shown Scale bar, 50 μm. B Statistical analysis ***P < 0.001. C Boxplots showing Smad4 expression levels in the GEO dataset GSE164760. Healthy: n = 6; NASH: n = 74. D Schematic illustration of HFD-induced mouse nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model. E Representative staining of Smad4 in mouse liver samples and statistical analysis Scale bar, 50 μm ***P < 0.001. F Oil Red O staining, representative double staining, and statistical analysis of Albumin (green) and Smad4 (red) in mouse liver tissues. (HPF: High Power Field) Scale bar, 50 μm ***P < 0.001 . G The expression levels of Smad4 protein in mouse NAFLD liver tissues were determined using Western blot analysis. Smad4 was normalized to GAPDH **P < 0.01.