Fig. 3: Hepatocyte MCM7 knockdown attenuates liver fibrosis in CCl4-treated mice.

A Experimental design schematic: mice were intravenously injected with shCtrl or AAV-shMcm7. Two weeks after the AAV injection, mice began receiving intraperitoneal injections of 10% CCl4 twice per week. Liver samples were collected at 6 weeks post-CCl4 treatment for analysis. B H&E staining (areas positive for liver fibrosis are delineated by black dashed lines), Masson’s trichrome staining, COL1A1 staining, and α-SMA staining (all scale bars: 100 μm) of liver sections from the indicated groups (AAV-shCtrl/Oil, shMcm7/Oil, AAV-shCtrl/CCl4, AAV-shMcm7/CCl4). Graphs show the quantified positive areas for each stain, determined using ImageJ software from multiple randomly selected fields across distinct tissue sections. C Hydroxyproline content in liver tissues was determined. D, E qRT-PCR (D) assessed the expression levels of Col1a1, α-Sma, Timp1, and Mmp2, while Western blot (E) analysis focused on COL1A1 and α-SMA in liver tissues from the indicated groups, with the graph displaying protein levels. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of 3–6 mice per group and are representative of three independent experiments. Statistical analyses were performed using an unpaired Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001; ns not significant.