Indeed, daily administration of Cxcl9

concomitantly to CCl4 strongly inhibited the formation of new blood vessels compared with vehicle-treated mice. phosphatase inhibitor library The difference between Cxcl9 und vehicle-treated mice was evident by quantification of CD31-positive cells (Fig. 6A) as well as vWF-positive cells (Supporting Fig. 7). Furthermore, as determined by contrast-enhanced ultrasound, the microvascular perfusion of the liver was significantly reduced in Cxcl9-treated mice compared with vehicle-treated mice, supporting a reduced density of vessels in the livers of these mice (Fig. 6B). In line with the direct interaction between Cxcl9 and VEGF pathways in vitro, the antiangiogenic properties of Cxcl9 were also linked to a strong decrease in VEGF protein levels within the liver in vivo (Supporting Fig. 8A). Importantly, alongside reduced neoangiogenesis, mice treated with Cxcl9 also had a strongly reduced severity of liver fibrosis compared with vehicle-treated mice (Fig. 7A). This difference was evident after quantification of Sirius red-stained liver tissues (Fig. 7B), biochemical measurement of hepatic hydroxyproline

contents (Fig. 7C), and by assessment of intrahepatic Col1α1 mRNA expression (Supporting Fig. 8B). As Cxcl9 might have direct chemotactic effects on liver infiltrating Sirolimus clinical trial cells, we also determined the number of Th1-polarized, IFN-γ-positive cells in the livers of Cxcl9 and vehicle-treated mice. However, the number of IFN-γ-positive cells was not different between the groups (Supporting Fig. 8C), arguing against a major influence of the immune system on the phenotype observed after Cxcl9 treatment. Instead,

the content of α-SMA in the liver was strongly reduced by Cxcl9 treatment (Fig. 7D), suggesting that a main effect of Cxcl9 in vivo is the modulation of stellate cell activation alongside with reduced neoangiogenesis and endothelial cell inhibition. In the current study we provide evidence that the Cxcr3 chemokine system is an important modulator of neoangiogenesis in the murine liver and that the Cxcr3 ligand Cxcl9 has the potential to ameliorate neoangiogenesis and liver fibrosis MCE公司 in vivo. In recent studies we demonstrated that mice deficient in the chemokine receptor Cxcr3 are more prone to liver fibrosis in different experimental models. 7 These results were in line with earlier findings of the importance of Cxcr3 in models of pulmonary and renal fibrosis. 12, 13 The effects of Cxcr3 ligands in liver disease models were mainly explained by reduced recruitment of Th1-polarized or regulatory T cells. 7, 10, 11 Furthermore, a direct inhibitory effect of CXCL9 on collagen secretion of stellate cells was identified. 7 However, another important feature of Cxcr3 ligands is their strong angiostatic function 16, 23 and their close correlations to VEGF concentrations in vivo.