Semi-confluent HSCs were transiently transfected with a group of LOX-1 promoter luciferase reporter plasmids. A total of 3.5μg of plasmid DNA per well was added to HSCs in 6-well culture plates. It included 3μg of a LOX-1 promoter reporter plasmid and 0.5μg of pSV-β-gal. After recovery, cells were treated with or without curcumin at 20μM for 24 hr. Luciferase activities were expressed as relative units after β-galactosidase normalization (means ± s.d.; n≥6). The percentages indicated the reduction in luciferase activities in cells treated with curcumin, compared to those in corresponding cells without curcumin treatment. (A). Luciferase activity assays of cells transfected with a group of plasmids with various lengths of the lox-1 5′-flanking promoter region. (B) Luciferase activity assays of HSCs transfected with the wild-type pLOX-1-Luc, or its mutant counterpart pLOX-1(mut)-Luc with site-directed mutations in the putative TCF/LEF-1 binding site.