Fig. 5

Cav1 is a potential target of hPMSC secretomes in inhibition of activated HSCs. a Heatmap showing the DEGs among HSCs from hPMSC group, blank group and medium group (log2 fold change ≥ 2, p < 0.05). b Heatmaps of two key gene clusters associated with HSC activation and liver fibrosis. c GO analysis (biological processes) of significantly downregulated DEGs between hPMSC group and TGF-β1 group (p < 0.05). d Expression of ten fibrosis-related genes at different groups was determined using qRT-PCR. Relative mRNA expression was normalized to β-actin and compared with the fibrosis group. Cells from blank group were unactivated HSCs, cells from TGF-β group were activated HSCs that were pretreated with TGF-β, and medium group or hPMSC group were activated HSCs treated with either MSC medium or hPMSC secretomes. ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05; ns, no significance