c-Met Signaling Protects from Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis- (NASH-) Induced Fibrosis in Different Liver Cell Types

Figure 1

Increased steatosis in LysCre/c-Met^mut mice after MCD and HFD feeding (a) AST levels in serum of c-Met^fl/fl and LysCre/c-Met^mut mice after chow, MCD (4 weeks), and HFD (24 weeks) feeding. Serum transaminases increase after treatment with steatosis-induced diets () (). (b) ALT levels in serum of c-Met^fl/fl and LysCre/c-Met^mut mice after chow, MCD (4 weeks), and HFD (24 weeks) feeding. Serum transaminases increase after treatment with steatosis-induced diets () (). (c) Representative H&E-stained liver sections of c-Met^fl/fl and LysCre/c-Met^mut animals (chow, MCD (4 w), and HFD (24 w)) show increased steatosis development in LysCre/c-Met^mut mice. Magnification: 200x; scale bars: 100 μm. (d) Representative images of Oil Red O-stained liver sections from c-Met^fl/fl and LysCre/c-Met^mut mice after chow, MCD (4 weeks), and HFD (24 weeks) treatment are depicted. Magnification: 200x; scale bars: 100 μm. (e) After 24 weeks of HFD feeding, LysCre/c-Met^mut animals displayed a significantly impaired glucose tolerance shown by a stronger increase in serum glucose levels compared to equally treated c-Met^fl/fl mice () (). (f) Intrahepatic triglyceride levels were determined in livers of chow, MCD (4 weeks), or HFD (24 weeks) fed c-Met^fl/fl and LysCre/c-Met^mut mice. At least 5 animals per group were included ().

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