Fig. 6

Airn/IMP2 inhibits HG-induced CF proliferation and activation by maintaining p53-mediated cell cycle arrest. A Venn diagram of IMP2-bound genes following knockdown of Airn obtained from dataset GSE87221 in the GEO database. B qRT-PCR analysis the level of selected mRNAs in CFs upon silencing of IMP2 and Airn. C RIP and RT-PCR assays are conducted using anti-IMP2 to verify the binding of IMP2 with p53. D RNA FISH and immunofluorescence co-staining was employed to detect the colocalization of IMP2 protein (red), p53 mRNA (green) and DAPI (blue); upper scale bar = 20 μm, lower scale bar = 5 μm. E Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for EdU (green) and DAPI (bule) and quantification of the proliferative cells; Scale bar = 50 μm. F Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for α-SMA (green) and DAPI (blue) and quantification of the relative cell area of CFs; Scale bar = 50 μm. g Representative blot images and quantitative analysis of α-SMA, collagen I, p21, p53, Cyclin D1, CDK2 and CDK4 expression in CFs. H Representative blot images and quantitative analysis of p21, p53, Cyclin D1, CDK2 and CDK4 expression in CFs. I Flow cytometry analysis of cell cycle distribution. Data are presented as means ± SEM. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. n = 3 wells