*2.2. RNA in Situ Hybridization Assay*

Liver samples were fixed in 1% paraformaldehyde for 12 h, embedded in paraffin and cut into 5 μm sections. RNAscope® 2.5 HD Duplex RNA in situ hybridization assay (Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Newark, CA, USA) was performed according to the manufacturer's instructions, applying standard pretreatment conditions [43]. The ethanol incubation following target retrieval was performed for ten minutes and the ninth amplification step was extended to one hour. Specific probes were used for the detection of type I collagen- (*Mm-Col1a1*, #319379) and CD45- (*Mm-Ptprc*, #318651) gene expression. Positive- and negative-controls were carried out using probes specific to murine housekeeping-genes (*Mm-Ppib*/*Mm-Polr2a*, #321651) and a bacterial gene (*dapB*, #320751).
