Journal: Journal of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System: JRAAS

Article Title: Ramipril pretreatment worsened renal injury and survival despite a reduction in renal inflammation in experimentally induced sepsis in mice

doi: 10.1177/1470320320923977

Figure Lengend Snippet: (a) and (b) Influence of ramipril pretreatment on kidney injury . (a) Detection of kidney injury by Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining 24 h post sepsis induction. Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) operation induced an overt tubular injury in mice. Representative images are shown. The vasodilation and brush border damages are shown with asterisks on the images. Original magnification 200 ×. Bars correspond to 50 μm. N = 8–10 per group. (b) Semi-quantitative cortical tubular injury scores. The score ranges from zero to five depending on the level of tubular damage. N = 8–10, CLP versus the sham operation (SOP) group, ### p < 0.001, ramipril + SOP versus SOP group, *** p < 0.001.

Article Snippet: To estimate renal injury a Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain was performed on a 4 μm paraffin kidney sections using a PAS staining kit (Carl Roth GmbH & Co.KG, Karlsruhe, Germany).

Techniques: Staining, Ligation

Journal: World Journal of Gastroenterology

Article Title: Dihydroergotamine ameliorates liver fibrosis by targeting transforming growth factor β type II receptor

doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i20.3103

Figure Lengend Snippet: Dihydroergotamine alleviated fibrosis in CCl 4 -induced liver fibrosis model mice. A: The width of the portal vein (left panel); portal vein width of mice in each group (right panel, n = 7); B: The velocity of the portal vein (left panel); the velocity of mice in each group (right panel, n = 7); C: Body weight, liver weight, spleen weight, and liver weight/body weight of mice in each group ( n = 6-8); D: Gross liver specimens of the mice in each group; E: An automated biochemistry analyzer determined the enzymatic activities of serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase ( n = 6-7); F: Masson’s trichrome staining was performed on liver sections; G: Collagen area in Masson’s trichrome staining ( n = 7-8). All data were presented as means ± standard error of the mean. One-way ANOVA test was performed. a P < 0.05, b P < 0.01, c P < 0.001, and d P < 0.0001. TGFβ: Transforming growth factor β; TGFβR: Transforming growth factor β receptor; DHE: Dihydroergotamine.

Article Snippet: Then, the liver paraffin-embedded tissue sections were stained with a Masson’s trichrome kit (G1281, Solarbio, Beijing, China) and observed under a 10x objective lens.

Techniques: Staining

Journal: Scientific Reports

Article Title: Combination of melt-electrospun poly-ε-caprolactone scaffolds and hepatocyte-like cells from footprint-free hiPSCs to create 3D biohybrid constructs for liver tissue engineering

doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49117-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: Hepatic maturation under 2D conditions and subsequent analyses of the cells. ( A ) Expression analysis of A1AT, ALB, and APOA2 transcripts performing qRT-PCR. mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH, and the results are shown relative to hiPSCs (n = 3). ( B ) Expression analysis for the presence of the hiPSC marker Nanog. mRNA levels were normalized to GAPDH, and the results are shown relative to hiPSCs (n = 5). ( C ) Representative immunofluorescence microscopy images of HLCs, stained with albumin-specific antibodies. Scale bars show 50 µm or 100 µm. ( D ) Flow cytometry analyses of TRA-1–60 expressing cells after 20 days. All results are presented as mean + SEM (n = 3). Statistical differences were identified using unpaired t-test (****p < 0.0001). ( E ) Flow cytometry analyses of ALB-expressing cells after 20 days. All results are presented as mean + SEM (n = 3). Statistical differences were identified using unpaired t-test (***p < 0.001). ( F ) Expression analysis of CYP3A4, CYP2C9, CYP1A2, and CYP2D6 transcripts using qRT-PCR (n = 3). Expression levels were examined after stimulation with 25 µM and 50 µM rifampicin for 48 h and without rifampicin treatment. ( G ) Analysis of albumin secretion by ELISA (n = 5). Results were compared to the initial hiPSCs. ( H ) Metabolic activity of hiPSC-derived HLCs was determined by measuring the activity of cytochrome P450 CYP3A4 (n = 4). ( I ) PAS staining showing glycogen storage in hiPSC-derived HLCs. ( J ) Detection of ICG uptake (left) and release after 6 h. Scale bars represent 50 µm. All results are shown as mean + SEM. Statistical differences were identified with unpaired t-test or one-way ANOVA. (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001).

Article Snippet: To identify glycogen storage in hiPSC-derived HLCs, PAS staining was performed at the end of the differentiation process (day 20) using a PAS staining kit (Morphisto GmbH, Offenbach am Main, Germany).

Techniques: Expressing, Quantitative RT-PCR, Marker, Immunofluorescence, Microscopy, Staining, Flow Cytometry, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Activity Assay, Derivative Assay