Fig. 3

Specific proximal tubular knockout of XBP1 enhanced renal fibrosis in UIRI mice. a Diagram illustrates the timeline of the experiment. All the experimental mice were intraperitoneal injection of tamoxifen, then subjected to UIRI for 30 min. b Masson’s trichrome staining shows the increased fibrosis fraction in XBP1^cKO mice kidney section after UIRI. N = 3–4 for each group. Scale bar indicates 100 μm in 200×. c Quantitative scores of interstitial fibrosis were assessed. d qPCR assessment of the relative expression level of Col1a mRNA. e–h The expression of α-SMA and vimentin were examined with western blot analysis and quantified. N = 5–8 for each group. Data are expressed as means ± SEM. *P < 0.05, ***< 0.001 as compared with XBP1^fl/fl sham group, ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001 as compared with the indicated group