Fig. 3: Hepatocyte-specific deletion of Fgf18 attenuates fibrosis in the livers of Cflar^LKO mice fed the CDE diet.

a–c Hepatocytes and NPCs were isolated from 6- to 8-week-old female Cflar^FF;Fgf18^FF, Cflar^LKO;Fgf18^LKO, Cflar^FF, and Cflar^LKO mice, and the expression of Fgf18 and Cflar was determined by qPCR (a, b). Results are mean ± SE (n = 3 mice). The expression of cFLIP was determined by Western blotting with anti-cFLIP antibody (n = 3 mice) (c). Numbers indicate an individual mouse. Results are representative of two independent experiments. d–l, Eight-week-old female Fgf18^FF, Fgf18^LKO, Cflar^FF, Cflar^LKO, Cflar^FF;Fgf18^FF, and Cflar^LKO;Fgf18^LKO mice were fed the CDE diet for 4 weeks, and the serum ALT, AST, and ALP concentrations were determined (d). Results are mean ± SE (n = 5 mice). The expression of Fgf18 in the livers was determined by qPCR (e). Results are mean ± SE. n = 5 (Fgf18^FF, Fgf18^LKO, Cflar^FF, Cflar^LKO, and Cflar^FF;Fgf18^FF) or n = 6 (Cflar^LKO;Fgf18^LKO) mice. Liver sections were stained with H&E, Sirius Red, anti-desmin, or anti-CK19 antibodies (n = 5 mice) (f). Scale bars, 100 μm. The Sirius Red⁺ (g) and desmin⁺ (h) areas were quantified and expressed as in Fig. 1f. Results are mean ± SE (n = 5 mice). The hydroxyproline content of the liver was determined (i). Results are mean ± SE (n = 5 mice). Expression of the indicated genes in the liver was determined by qPCR (j, l). Results are mean ± SE (n = 5 mice). The CK19⁺ areas (k) were quantified and expressed as in Fig. 1f. Results are mean ± SE. n = 6 (Cflar^FF and Cflar^LKO,) or n = 5 (Fgf18^FF, Fgf18^LKO, Cflar^FF;Fgf18^FF, and Cflar^LKO;Fgf18^LKO) mice. Pooled results from six independent experiments are shown (d, e, g–l). Statistical significance was determined by the two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test (a, b) or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons (d, e, g–l). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.