Role of the receptor for advanced glycation end products in hepatic fibrosis

Figure 1 RAGE expression in hepatic stellate cells (A, B) and upregulation of RAGE expression during activation of HSC (C). A: Bars represent RAGE mRNA expression, as determined by real time quantitative PCR relative to GAPDH mRNA, by freshly isolated rat hepatocytes (Hep), 10 d culture-activated primary rat HSC, CFSC-2G and HSC-T6 HSC lines, and human HSC; B: RAGE protein is detected as a 57 kDa band after SDS-PAGE of cell lysates and Western blotting with a monoclonal anti-RAGE IgG. Experiments were repeated at least three times with similar results; C: Freshly isolated rat HSC were culture-activated for 1, 5, and 10 d and RAGE mRNA expression was quantified by real-time PCR. Bars represent mean RAGE expression ± SD in arbitrary units relative to GAPDH from at least three individual experiments. Values were normalized to 50 ng of extracted RNA transcribed into cDNA. ^bP < 0.01 vs 1 d activation. RAGE: Receptor for advanced glycation end products; HSC: Hepatic stellate cells; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.