Fig. 4

TCF7 promotes the cell proliferation and fibrosis through activation of SNAI2 transcription in HLF cells. A JASPAR predicted the DNA binding motif of TCF7 and the possible binding sites of TCF7 in SNAI2 promoter. B The mRNA and protein expression of SNAI2 was evaluated by RT-qPCR and Western Blot in HLF cells with TCF7 knockdown or overexpression. C ChIP assays validated the interaction between SNAI2 promoter and TCF7. D Luciferase reporter assays confirmed that TCF7 bound to SNAI2 promoter at the putative sites. E The proliferation of HLF cells transfected with vector, TCF7, SNAI2, and TCF7 + shSNAI2 was determined by CCK-8 assays. F The apoptosis of HLF cells transfected with vector, TCF7, SNAI2, and TCF7 + shSNAI2 was determined by flow cytometry assays. G Western Blot was used to detect the protein expression of fibrosis-related genes (collagen I, collagen III, MMP2, MMP13, and TGFβ1) in HLF cells transfected with vector, TCF7, SNAI2, and TCF7 + shSNAI2. shSNAI2, SNAI2 knockdown adenovirus; SNAI2, SNAI2 overexpressed adenovirus; TCF7 overexpressed adenovirus. ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, and ^###P < 0.001