YAP agonist treatment in vitro and in vivo in the I/R 45 min AKI models
(a) Western blot of the pYAP/YAP ratio in HK-2 cells with an increased gradient of digitoxin concentration after 24 h of incubation. DMSO was added as control. Quantification of immunoblots of the pYAP/YAP ratio. Results are means±S.E.M. ***P<0.001 compared with control. (b) Western blot of pYAP and YAP in DMSO- and digitoxin-treated I/R 45 min rat models 4 weeks after reperfusion. Quantification of immunoblots comparing pYAP/YAP ratio between groups. Results are means±S.E.M. *P<0.05 compared with DMSO-treated sham operation group (n=3); **P<0.01 compared with DMSO-treated sham operation group (n=3). (c) Serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN) after I/R injury followed by DMSO or digitoxin treatment for 4 weeks. Results are means±S.E.M. **P<0.01 for digitoxin-treated I/R (n=4) and sham operation (n=3) compared with DMSO-treated sham operation (n=3); *P<0.05 for DMSO-treated I/R (n=3) compared with sham operation (n=3); #P<0.05 for digitoxin-treated I/R (n=4) compared with DMSO-treated I/R (n=3). (d) Western blot of CTGF, TEAD2, TEAD3 and Vgll4 (n=3). (e) Western blot of the differentiation and dedifferentiation markers (n=3). (f) Masson's trichrome staining (×100 magnification) showing fibrosis as blue appearance (n=3). Scale bar, 100 μm. Quantification results are means±S.E.M. Digi, digitoxin.