Fig. 5

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) from the Pten null mice are activated. a Morphology of HSCs isolated from Pten control (HSC-Con) and null (HSC-Pm) mice after overnight culturing for attachment. Top left panel, phase contrast images; bottom left panels, autofluorescence of vitamin A. Green fluorescence (pseudo-colored green) indicates vitamin A-rich oil droplets. Inset, higher magnification images of the oil droplets with vitamin A autofluorescence. Right panel, quantification of vitamin A-positive cells. *significantly different between the two groups at p < 0.05. At least three randomly selected views per culture were used for measurement. b Expression of fibrosis markers (Col1a1, SMAα, and Timp 1) indicates that HSCs from Pten null livers are activated. Open bar, HSCs isolated from control livers (HSC-Con); solid bar, HSCs isolated from Pten null livers (HSC-Pm). *significantly different between the two groups at p < 0.05. n = 3. c Expression of fibrosis markers in HSC isolated from the Pten null (HSC-Pm) and Pten/Akt2 double null (HSC-Dm) livers. *significantly different between the two groups at p < 0.05. n = 3. d HSCs from Pten null livers are fully activated at day 2 of culture where HSCs from control (HSC-Con) and Pten/Akt2 double null (HSC-Dm) livers still remain quiescent. Top panel, phase contrast images; bottom panel, autofluorescence of vitamin A (pseudo-colored green)