Fig. 3

KCs accumulation at the injured site induces recruitment of HSCs mediating liver repair response. A Representative IHC images for F4/80⁺ cells (KCs) at indicated time intervals. Scale bars 100 µm (inset = 50 µm). B, C Quantitation of IHC images of F4/80⁺ cells, and F4/80 mRNA gene expression, respectively. F4/80 + cells are quantified by quantifying positive pixels in 5 random fields, averaged, and presented as mean ± SD. n = 3/24 per time point. Scale bars 100 µm, n = 3/24 per group. *P < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. D Representative IHC images for αSMA expression indicating preliminary activation of HSCs at 24 h and subsequent time intervals. Scale bars 100 µm (inset = 50 µm). E, F Quantitation of αSMA⁺ cells (quantified by quantifying positive pixels in 5 random fields, averaged, and presented as mean ± SD. n = 3/24 per time point. Scale bars 100 µm, n = 3/24 per group. *P < 0.05, and ****p < 0.0001) and αSMA mRNA gene expression at indicated time intervals, respectively. αSMA mRNA data represented as mean ± SD, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001., n = 3/24 per group