Effect of CB1-RNAi-LV on Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transitions of primary hepatic stellate cells.

<p>(<b>A</b>) The statistical results of E-cadherin, Snail and Vimentin mRNA expression in HSCs (named Con), HSCs with 2-AG (named Con+2AG), HSCs with NC-LV and 2-AG (named NC+2AG), HSCs with CB1-RNAi-LV and 2-AG (named siRNA+2AG), HSCs with 2-AG and AM251 (named Con+2AG+AM251) by RT-PCR analysis. Relative expression levels of mRNA were normalized against those of GAPDH mRNA. “# #” <i>p</i><0.01. (<b>B</b>) shows representative graphs of E-cadherin, Snail and Vimentin protein expression by Western blot analysis and (<b>C</b>) shows the statistical results. These data indicated that the mRNA and protein expressions of E-cadherin in HSCs were down-regulated significantly by 2-AG stimulation, while the levels of Snail and Vimentin were up-regulated significantly by 2-AG stimulation. On the other hand, the expression level of E-cadherin in HSCs with CB1-RNAi-LV transfection and 2-AG stimulation were increased markedly than that in HSCs with NC-LV transfection and 2-AG stimulation, while the expression levels of Vimentin and Snail in HSCs with CB1-RNAi-LV transfection and 2-AG stimulation were decreased markedly than that in HSCs with NC-LV transfection and 2-AG stimulation. The results also revealed that the expression levels of E-cadherin, Snail and Vimentin in HSCs stimulated by 2-AG were not affected by AM251 treatment.