For details about semiquantitative and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reactions, see the Supporting Materials and Methods. Cells at 70% confluence were transiently transfected with 50 nM small interfering RNA (siRNA) for 8 hours

using TransIT-siQuest following the manufacturer’s instructions Pifithrin�� (Mirus, Madison, WI). For stable transfection of short hairpin RNA (shRNA), cells at 50%-60% confluence were transfected with MATra-A reagent (IBA, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s recommendation (15 minutes on the magnet plate, 2 μg/mL of shRNA plasmid). Four different plasmids of TGFBRI shRNA were transfected separately or combined, as well as a control shRNA. Protocols used were as described.[18] For siRNA sequences and further experimental details, see the Supporting Materials and Methods. Cell motility was examined by two different EPZ-6438 supplier methods: (1) a wound-healing assay[16] and (2) real-time migration assay through the xCELLigence system (Roche Applied Science). For the wound-healing assay, cells were grown at basal conditions to 95% confluence and monolayers were scratched with a pipette tip (0 hours). Cell migration was recorded by phase contrast microscopy (Olympus IX-70) at 48 hours after wound scratch. For real-time monitoring of cell migration, the xCELLigence system was used; 4 × 104 cells/well were seeded onto the top

chamber of a CIM plate, which features microelectronic sensors integrated on the underside of the microporous membrane of a Boyden-like chamber. CIM plates were placed onto the Real-Time Cell Analyzer (RTCA) station (xCELLigence System, Roche, Mannheim, Germany). Cell migration was continuously monitored by measuring changes in the electrical impedance at the electrode/cell interface, as a population of cells migrated from the top to the bottom chamber. Continuous values are represented as cell index (CI), a dimensionless parameter that reflects a relative change in measured electrical impedance, and quantified as a slope (h−1) of the first 5 hours. Male mice at day 15 of age received intraperitoneal injections of DEN (5 mg/kg)

diluted in saline buffer, control animals were injected with saline buffer intraperitoneally. At 6, 9, and 12 months of age, mice were sacrificed and their livers removed. For histological studies, liver lobes were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde selleckchem overnight and paraffin-embedded for immunohistochemistry staining. Total RNA was isolated from frozen tissues to analyze gene expression by real-time quantitative PCR. Three to four animals/condition and two different tissue pieces/animal were processed for RNA extraction. All data represent at least three experiments and are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Differences between groups were compared using either Student t test or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) associated with Dunnett’s test. Statistical significance was assumed when P < 0.05.