RNA-sequence analysis of human iPSC-derived qHSCs, aHSCs and deactivated HSCs

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the major driver of fibrosis by expressing extracellular matrices (ECM). HSCs, in the normal liver, are quiescent and activated by liver injury to become myofibroblasts that proliferate and produce ECM. It has been shown that activated HSCs can be deactivated by removal of liver insults. In order to evaluate the changes of gene expression profiles, we induced quiescent HSCs (qHSCs), activated HSCs (aHSCs) and deactivated HSCs (daHSCs) from human induced pluripotent stem cells and performed RNA-sequence analysis. Total RNA was extracted from qHSCs (day 0), aHSCs (day 7, day 10) and daHSCs (day 10) using the NucleoSpin RNA XS (MACHEREY-NAGAL, Duren, Germany), according to the manufacture’s protocol. Libraries were prepared using the Optimal Dual-mode mRNA Library Prep Kit (BGI). All libraries were sequenced using the DNBSEQ-G400 (MGI).