Figure 5

Wnt2b suppresses TLR4 activation-mediated pro-fibrogenic effects. (a) Representative images for bacterial growth of jejunum (left) and liver tissues (right) after cultivation on Blood Agar Plates. (b) Representative H&E (upper) and Sirius Red staining (lower) of liver tissues from WT mice and TLR4 ^−/− mice after 12 intraperitoneal injections of TAA. (c) H&E and Sirius Red staining,Western blotting of α-SMA in liver tissues from mice treated with TAA alone, or combined with sh-Wnt2b construct/TLR4 inhibitor TAK242 (4 mg/kg, i.p.), or all of the three factors given above in combination for 4 weeks. (d) Protein levels of α-SMA and Collagen-I in LX2 cells stimulated with LPS (10, 100 ng/ml) for 24 h. (e) Effects of Wnt2b on the α-SMA and Collagen-I expressions in LX2 cells stimulated with LPS (100 ng/ml). (f) Protein levels of α-SMA and Collagen-I in LX2 cells stimulated with LPS (100 ng/ml) or vehicle for 24 h, and TGF-β (500 pg/ml) or vehicle for an additional 48 h. (g) LX2 cells were transfected with active Wnt2B-V5 or control plasmids for 24 h, followed by treatment with LPS ± TGF-β as described in Fig. 5f. The expression of α-SMA and Collagen-I were then detected by Western blot analysis. Cropped blots are displayed; Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Fig. S7. Statistical analysis provided the mean ± SE (n = 6/group), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.