Fig. 7

COX-2 inhibition ameliorated HCT by inhibiting the TGF-β-TGFBR1-β-catenin signaling pathway in vitro. a and b Comparison of the key protein levels of the TGF-β-TGFBR1-β-catenin signaling pathway in isolated murine hepatocytes among the WT-NS, WT-TAA, and KO-TAA groups (WB). c Primary mouse hepatocytes were isolated from wild-type mice and treated with vehicle, TGF-β, etoricoxib (COX-2 inhibitor), and FH535 (β-catenin pathway inhibitor). Active β-catenin and SOX9 were costained in these treated cells (IF). d and e Quantification of the key protein levels of the TGF-β-TGFBR1-β-catenin signaling pathway and COX-2 after treatments in hepatocytes isolated from wild-type mice (WB). f Measurement of the mRNA expression of Tgfbr1 after treatment (qPCR). Images were cropped and scaled for illustration purposes from original Western blot images provided in supplementary files. Scale bars 50μm. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001; ns, not significant (one-way ANOVA, n = 3/group)