Hes1, an important gene for activation of hepatic stellate cells, is regulated by Notch1 and TGF-β/BMP signaling

Figure 3 Over-expression of the Notch target gene Hes1 increases the expression of α-smooth muscle actin and Collagen1α2 in hepatic stellate cell-T6 cells but has no effect on the expression of Collagen1α1. A, C, D: Luciferase reporter assays for the promoter activities of α-SMA, COL1α1 and COL1α2 in cells transfected with pcDNA-Hes1 or empty plasmid-pcDNA3.1(+) as a control (^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs the control group, n = 8); B: Analysis of α-SMA and Hes1 by Western blot analysis of transfected cells. The β-actin protein served as a control (^cP < 0.05 vs all the control groups). α-SMA: α-smooth muscle actin; COL1α1: Collagen1α1.