Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells Ameliorate Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation and Liver Fibrosis by Upregulating MicroRNA-455-3p through Suppression of p21-Activated Kinase-2

Figure 5

HUC-MSCs upregulate the expression of miR-455-3p of CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis in mice by suppressing PAK2 expression. (a) The expression levels of miR-455-3p were examined in mouse hepatic tissues of the olive oil-treated group and CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis groups treated with PBS or HUC-MSCs. (b) The expression levels of PAK2 mRNA in mouse hepatic tissues were examined by qRT-PCR. (c) Immunohistochemical staining of PAK2 in liver tissues of different groups. Scale bars, 50 μm. (d) Quantification of PAK2-positive area in mouse hepatic tissues. (e) The protein levels of PAK2 in mice hepatic tissue were examined by Western blotting. (f) Quantitation of PAK2 protein levels from three independent Western blot analyses. (g) Immunofluorescence images of liver sections for the presence of DAPI (blue) or α-SMA (red) or PAK2 (green). The yellow areas indicated by the arrow are the coexpression regions of α-SMA and PAK2. Scale bars, 200 μm. (h) Quantification of coexpression region of α-SMA and PAK2 in mouse hepatic tissues. The quantitative data are represented as the . Each experiment was repeated three times. and .

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