2.1 Animals and experimental design
All mice received human care and animal experiments were approved by the University Committee on Use and Care of Animals of the China Pharmaceutical University (Nanjing, China), (Resolution number, 202007001). Animal studies are reported in compliance with the ARRIVE guidelines (Lilley et al., 2020)and with the recommendations made by the British Journal of Pharmacology. Male C57BL/6J used for this study (18–20 g, specific -pathogen‐free class) were purchased from Charles River Laboratories Co., Ltd (Beijing, China). Five‐week‐old mice were used for establishing CCl4 and BDL‐induced hepatic fibrosis model and 6-8‐week‐old mice were used for isolating mouse primary HSCs. Animals were maintained in an environmentally controlled room (pathogen‐free, 20–24°C, 40–60% relative humidity and 12‐hr alternating light/dark cycle). Laboratory animals were randomly assigned to groups of equal size. Analysis of all animal samples was carried out in a blinded manner.