Figure 3

(a) Effects of armepavine on TNF-α-induced ERK1/2, p38 and JNK 1/2 phosphorylation levels in HSC-T6 cells. HSC-T6 cells were treated with TNF-α for 0-120 minutes. Representative results from three independent experiments are shown here. ^#p < 0.05 for phosphorylation of JNK 1/2 induced by TNF-α + armepavine vs. TNF-α alone at the same time point; ^†p < 0.05 for phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 induced by TNF-α + armepavine vs. TNF-α alone at the same time point; *p < 0.05 for phosphorylation of p38 induced by TNF-α + armepavine vs. TNF-α alone at the same time point. (b) Quantitative real-time PCR analysis for the expressions of iNOS, procollagen type I ( Col 1α2 ), α-SMA and TIMP-1 genes in HSC-T6 cells treated with TNF-α and armepavine for 24 hrs. Representative results from three independent experiments are shown here, with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a positive control. *p < 0.05 for TNF-α alone vs. Control; ^#p < 0.05 for TNF-α + (S)-armepavine or NAC vs. TNF-α alone.