Fig. 2: Hepatocyte-specific deletion of FGL1 alleviates UUO-induced renal fibrosis in mice.
From: Hepatokine fibrinogen-like protein 1 drives liver-kidney crosstalk to promote renal fibrosis
a Schematic illustration of the experimental approach. FGL1fl/fl mice (Ctrl) and hepatocyte-specific FGL1 knockout (FGL1 HepKO) mice were subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) for 14 days. Created in BioRender. Wu, W. (2025) https://BioRender.com/a4vde7a. b Gross appearance of whole kidneys from Ctrl and FGL1 HepKO mice (Scale bar, 2 mm). c–f Representative images and quantitative results of HE staining, Masson staining, and COL-I staining in the kidneys of Sham or UUO mice (n = 3, scale bars, 100 μm). g, h Representative images and quantitative results of SHG images in the kidneys of Sham or UUO mice (n = 3, scale bars, 100 μm). SHG: second harmonic generation, TPEF: two-photon excited fluorescence. i Western blot analysis of FN, VIMENTIN and α-SMA in the kidney of Sham or UUO mice (n = 6). FN: fibronectin, the extracellular matrix deposition marker, VIMENTIN: the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition marker, α-SMA: α-smooth muscle actin, the myofibroblast activation marker. j mRNA levels of Col1a1, Col3a1 and Acta2 in the kidneys of Sham or UUO mice (n = 6). Data are presented as mean ± SD. The p values were determined by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction (d, e, f, h, i, j). Source data are provided as a Source data file.
