Fig. 4

lnc-Helf promotes HSCs activation and proliferation. A–C Primary HSCs were isolated and infected with lnc-Helf-shRNA or lenti-control at day 2 for 48 h, following the treatment with 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 for 24 h. qRT-PCR was used to assess the RNA level of lnc-Helf, Acta2, Col1α1, Col1α2, Timp1, Tgf-β1, Pcna, Ki67, and Cyclin E1 (A); western blot was used to determine the expression of α-SMA, MMP2, CYCLIN D1, CYCLIN B1, and PCNA (B). GAPDH was used as an internal control; the expression and location of α-SMA was assessed by confocal microscopy (C). Scale bar is 20 μm. D–F Primary HSCs were isolated and infected with lenti-lnc-Helf or lenti-control at day 2 for 48 h, following the treatment with 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 for 24 h. The expression and location of α-SMA was assessed by confocal microscopy (D). Scale bar is 20 μm. qRT–PCR was used to detect the RNA level of lnc-Helf, Acta2, Col1α1, Col1α2, Timp1, Tgf-β1, Pcna, Ki67, and Cyclin E1 (E); western blot was used to determine the expression of α-SMA, MMP2, CYCLIN D1, CYCLIN B1, and PCNA (F). GAPDH was used as an internal control. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ^*/#p < 0.05. *p < 0.05 for LV-control. ^#p < 0.05 for LV-control + TGF-β1, one-way ANOVA (A, E)