Journal: Oncotarget

Article Title: Imidazoline I 2 receptor inhibitor idazoxan regulates the progression of hepatic fibrosis via Akt-Nrf2-Smad2/3 signaling pathway

doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15472

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Liver fibrosis as assessed by hematoxylin and erosin (H&E), Sirius red Staining and Masson trichrome staining ( n = 6 in each group). Fibrosis is represented by collagen deposition (red color area) in Sirius Staining and (blue color area) in Masson's trichrome staining. ( B ) Trends in the body weights of C57BL/6 mice were monitored at 1 week intervals throughout the 8 weeks of CCl 4 treatment. ( C ) The liver weights and liver/body weight ratio at 8 weeks were measured. ( D ) The protein levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and TGF-β in liver tissue homogenates were measured by ELISA. The experiments were repeated for three times and data are represented as mean ± SEM. # p < 0.05 versus Control; ## p < 0.01 versus Control; * p < 0.05 versus CCl 4 ; ** p < 0.01 versus CCl 4 .

Article Snippet: The concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in liver tissue homogenates were measured by mouse ELISA kits (Wuhan Boster Biological Technology Co., Ltd.).

Techniques: Staining, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Control

Journal: Oncotarget

Article Title: Imidazoline I 2 receptor inhibitor idazoxan regulates the progression of hepatic fibrosis via Akt-Nrf2-Smad2/3 signaling pathway

doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.15472

Figure Lengend Snippet: LX2 cells were transfected with control shRNA or Nrf2 shRNA Lentivirus Particles, then treated with IDA (100 μM) for 1 h and next treated with or without TGF-β (5 ng/ml) for 12 h. ( A ) The expressions of HO-1 and NQO-1 were detected by western blotting. ( B ) The relative enzyme activity of SOD and GPx were measured by ELISA. ( C ) The expressions of p-Smad2, Smad2, p-Smad3, Smad3, α-SMA and Col1 were detected by western blotting. ( D ) The expression of α-SMA was measured by immunofluorescence assay. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05 vs TGF-β; n.s. = No significant. Statistical analyses were performed using Student's t test.

Article Snippet: The concentrations of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in liver tissue homogenates were measured by mouse ELISA kits (Wuhan Boster Biological Technology Co., Ltd.).

Techniques: Transfection, Control, shRNA, Western Blot, Activity Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Expressing, Immunofluorescence

Journal: Frontiers in Physiology

Article Title: Extracellular Vesicle Characteristics in β-thalassemia as Potential Biomarkers for Spleen Functional Status and Ineffective Erythropoiesis

doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01214

Figure Lengend Snippet: Flow cytometry of EVs. (A) Percentage of RBC-derived (glycophorin A + -labeled [GlycoA + labeled.]) EVs in the different groups. Correlation between percentage of RBC-derived EVs and HCT in the Hy (B) and Sp (C) groups ( n = 7–8). Flow cytometry of activated platelet-derived EVs (CD62P + lab.) (D) , endothelial cell-derived EVs (CD31 + 41 − lab.) (E) , leukocyte-derived EVs (CD11a + lab.) (F) and monocyte-derived EVs (CD14 + lab.) (G) . Flow cytometry for procoagulant and anticoagulant potential of EVs. (H) Tissue factor (TF)-labeled EVs. (I) TF pathway inhibitor (TFPI)-labeled EVs. (J) TF/TFPI ratio. (K) Endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR)-labeled EVs. Controls n = 17–20, Hy n = 7–9, No-Hy n = 8–11, Sp n = 11–13. Data are displayed as median (horizontal bar), range from 25th to 75th percentile (box), and extremes of distribution from 10th to 90th percentiles (error bar). To compare subgroups, Kruskal–Wallis test was performed with subsequent Dunn’s multiple comparison test. Spearman’s correlation test was used to correlate EV results with the patients’ laboratory parameters. For all analyses, two-tailed test with significance P < 0.05 was used.

Article Snippet: To determine the procoagulant potential of the EVs, each sample was labeled with fluorescent antibodies against tissue factor (TF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) (American Diagnostics, Los Angeles, CA, United States), thrombomodulin (BD Biosciences Pharmingen, San Diego, CA, United States) and endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, United States).

Techniques: Flow Cytometry, Derivative Assay, Labeling, Comparison, Two Tailed Test