Wild-type (WT) and GNMT-KO mice were fed a standard diet (Teklad irradiated mouse diet 2014; Harlan, Madison, WI) and housed in a temperature-controlled animal facility with 12-hour light/dark cycles. At 1.5 months buy PLX-4720 of age, GNMT-KO (n = 20) and WT (n = 5) mice were treated for 6 weeks with NAM (50 μM dissolved in drinking water, which was replaced weekly) (Sigma-Aldrich) before sacrifice. For control groups, we used WT (n = 15) and GNMT-KO mice (n = 10) of the same age. At the time of sacrifice, livers were

rapidly split into several pieces; some were snap-frozen for subsequent RNA or protein extraction, and others were formalin-fixed for histological and immunohistochemical analysis. Serum samples were also collected for determination of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activity. Animals were treated humanely, and all procedures were in

compliance with our institutions’ guidelines for the use of laboratory animals. Sections from formalin-fixed liver tissue were stained with hematoxylin-eosin or with Sirius Red for collagen visualization. For α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) immunostaining and apoptosis detection, frozen liver tissue sections were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 15 minutes at room temperature, followed by treatment with 3% hydrogen peroxide in methanol for 10 minutes. The sections were then incubated with 150 mM sodium citrate Adriamycin mw for 2 minutes followed by washes in phosphate-buffered saline. For α-SMA immunolabeling, anti-α-SMA Cy3-conjugated antibody (Sigma) was applied overnight at 4°C. For apoptosis detection, fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated terminal selleckchem deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) enzyme was applied overnight at 4°C (in situ cell

death detection kit, Roche). Washing in ultrapure H2O and then in phosphate-buffered saline terminated the reaction. Nuclei were then labeled with Hoechst, and the cover slips were mounted in Citifluor mounting medium. Total RNA was isolated using the RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen) including DNase treatment on column. Total RNA (1.5 μg) was retrotranscribed with Super Script III (Invitrogen) in the presence of random primers and oligodeoxythymidylic acid following the manufacturer’s instructions. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using the BioRad iCycler thermalcycler. Five microliters of a 1/20 dilution were used in each PCR reaction in a total reaction volume of 30 μL using iQ SYBR Green Super Mix (BioRad), and all reactions were performed in duplicate. PCR was performed with the primers described in Supporting Table 1. After checking specificity of the PCR products with the melting curve, cycle threshold values were extrapolated to a standard curve performed simultaneously with the samples and data were then normalized to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) expression.