Fig. 4

Exosomes-mediated Crosstalk Between HSCs and Hepatic Cells in NASH. A The Venn diagram shows that only 7 specific miRNAs possess the potential to regulate NASH-related pathways in hepatocytes. B, C State of degree distribution in the ceRNA network (B, frequency [number of nodes] = 1 was highlighted with red dotted line), consisting of 7 miRNAs and 419 mRNAs (C). D, E The volcano plot (D) and heatmap (E) shows the differentially expressed genes in NASH liver tissues vs. normal liver tissues (GSE46300, red: upregulated genes, blue: downregulated genes). P-value < 0.05 and |Log₂FC|≥ 1.0. F The Venn diagram shows that there are 21 shared genes between the NASH-related gene set and exosomal-miRNA targeted gene set. G Protein interaction network diagram shows the interaction between 21 overlapped proteins. H PPI network of 21 overlapped proteins, in which STAT3 and THBS1 (labeled with red circles) are localized at the core of network