Fig. 4

Bcl3 knockout suppressed hepatocarcinogenesis by inhibiting hepatic SASP factor production and macrophage activation. a The result of Bcl3 protein expression was analyzed by Western blotting. β-actin was employed as the loading control. b Representative images of stained SA-β-gal (blue) and IHC-stained p21-positive cells in the indicated groups. Bar, 100 μm. c, d Representative quantification of the number of SA-β-gal- (c) and p21-positive cells (d). e Western blotting was performed to analyze the protein expression levels of p21 in the indicated groups. f Heat map showing the expression of canonical SASP factors in the livers of WT and Bcl3^−/− mice in the indicated groups. g–l IHC staining and relative quantification of IL-8 (g, h) and CD68, iNOS, and CD163 (i–l) in the livers of WT and Bcl3^−/− mice in the indicated groups. Bar, 100 μm. m, n Representative gross photographs of the liver (m) and the number of tumors (n) in WT and Bcl3^−/− mice treated with DEN-CCl₄. n = 5 for each group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 and ****p < 0.0001, as determined by t-test