Figure 6

Mitochondrial uncouplers reduce activation markers and proliferation of human derived HSCs. (A) Human activated HSCs (passage 7) were treated for 5 days with FCCP or Valinomycin (10 μM, both compounds) followed by analysis of mRNA levels of pro-fibrogenic genes by RT-qPCR. Activated human HSCs treated for 5 days with mitochondrial uncouplers present reduced α-SMA protein expression as observed by western blot (B) and immunocytochemistry (C). Numbers below Figure B represent densitometry values of α-SMA compared to control and normalized by β-Actin levels. (D) Representative images of cells stained with DAPI (blue fluorescence, left column) and EdU, as a measurement of DNA synthesis (green fluorescence, right column) at day 5. (B) Quantification of proliferation (EdU positive) as percentage of DAPI positive cells visualized in (D).