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

Figure 4

Earlier onset of steatosis in MxCre/c-Met^mut mice after MCD or HFD feeding. (a) Control PCR for the knockout PCR product of c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut mice. DNA of isolated bone marrow after bone marrow transplantation was used as template. The 372 bp product represents the MxCre/c-Met^mut allele. (b) After bone marrow transplantation, it was particularly noticed that nearly 50% MxCre/c-Met^mut mice died within 16 days. Therefore, survival curves were calculated for c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut animals after bone marrow transplantation. (c) Representative H&E-stained liver sections of c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut animals (chow, MCD (4 w), and HFD (24 w)) show an increase in steatosis development in MxCre/c-Met^mut mice after treatment with steatohepatitis-induced diets. Magnification: 200x; scale bars: 100 μm. (d) Oil Red O-stained liver sections from c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut mice after chow, MCD (4 weeks), and HFD (24 weeks) treatment are depicted. Magnification: 200x; scale bars: 100 μm. (e) AST and ALT serum levels of c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut mice after chow, 4 weeks of MCD, and 24 weeks of HFD feeding. Serum transaminases increase after treatment with chronic liver injury-induced diets () (, ). (f) Intrahepatic triglyceride levels were determined in livers of chow, MCD (4 weeks), or HFD (24 weeks) fed c-Met^fl/fl and MxCre/c-Met^mut mice. At least 6 animals per group were included ().

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