Fig. 4

Protective effects of WEAOR on the UVB-mediated loss of collagen fibers in vivo. The collagen fiber content was estimated using Masson’s trichrome staining (n = 5) (A). All colors except blue (collagen fibers) in pictures of Masson’s trichrome staining were eliminated using Adobe Photoshop, and the blue color was desaturated (lower panel of A). The intensity of the desaturated area in each slide was measured using ImageJ and tabulated. The total RNA was isolated from the dorsal skin of each mouse group, and the effects of WEAOR on the UVB-induced expression of procollagen type-1 (COL1A1) (B) and metalloproteinase-1a (MMP-1a) (C) were evaluated using qRT-PCR. Administration of WEAOR to UVB-irradiated mouse skin recovered the loss of collagen and the abnormal expression of COL1A1 and MMP-1a. Each data value is expressed as mean ± SD. Scale bar 100 µm. Different letters indicate significant differences between groups (P < 0.05)