Fig. 4

Inhibition of inflammation, apoptosis and fibrosis mediated by 3D-Exo. a The mRNA levels of Collagen I, α-SMA, Tgfβ, Il6, Ifn-γ, Hgf, Hss and Caspase 8 were determined by qRT-PCR in livers of mice with different treatments at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. b Immunofluorescence images of Collagen I and α-SMA of livers of control mice and the fibrotic mice injected with PBS, 2D-Exo, or 3D-Exo. (Original magnification, 20×, Scale bar, 100 μm). c The integrated optical density in b was quantified. d Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the protein expressions of iNos, Tnf-α, F4/80 and Pcna in the injured liver of mice treated with 2D-Exo and 3D-Exo. (Original magnification, 20×, Scale bar, 40 μm). e The percentage of positive cells in d was calculated. f The protein levels of Collagen I, Mcp1, Alb, Pck1, Tnf-α, Caspase 8, CD68, CD206 were determined by western blotting in the liver tissues of the mice with different treatments. Gapdh was used as a loading control. g TUNEL staining of liver tissues were used to measure the apoptotic cells in mice with different treatments. (Original magnification, 20×, Scale bar, 40 μm). h TUNEL positive cells in g were quantified. n = 6 in each group. Data represent the mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001