Fig. 4

Cirp^−/− activated TGF-β1/p38 MAPK inflammatory pathway. A Representative western blot images of p38 MAPK, phospho-p38 (pp38) MAPK and TGF-β1 in kidneys from the sham, DHCA and DHCA + Cirp^−/− groups. B The ratio of pp38 MAPK/p38 MAPK by western blot analysis. C The ratio of TGF-β1/β-actin by western blot analysis. D, E Representative immunohistochemistry images of TGF-β1and pp38 MAPK in the renal cortex and medulla from the three groups (original magnification, × 200). F, G The TGF-β1 or pp38 MAPK-positive cells were quantified by the percentage in 5 randomly selected microscopic vision fields. H ELISA analyses of serum IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α in the three groups. Statistical significance was examined by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001