Fig. 2

Exposure of DCA/LCA in HCoEpiC increased the expression of pluripotency genes. Levels of mRNA encoding the pluripotency genes KLF-4, Nanog, OCT4, and SOX2 was significantly higher in cells incubated with DCA or LCA than control cells (a). Likewise, expression of EMT regulators N-Cadherin, Slug, Twist, Vimentin, Zeb1, and Zeb2 was also increased in response to 100 μM DCA or LCA (b). Results expressed as mean ± standard deviation of three separate experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001. DCA (deoxycholic acid), LCA (lithocholic acid)