Increased QPCT/L expression in senescent cells. (A and B) Expression levels obtained from RNA-sequencing data for liver fibrosis rat models (Wang et al. 2021). Transcripts per million (tpm) expression values for Qpct and Qpctl in rat livers derived from BDL (A) or TAA-induced liver fibrosis (B). Data are represented as mean ± SEM. Significant de-regulation (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.005, ****P < 0.0001) was determined by limma/voom based on counts derived from featureCounts. (C and D) Quantification the relative QPCT (C) and QPCTL (D) mRNA levels by qPCR. Expression levels of senescent cells were normalized to the respective proliferating control (white bar). Data are representative of three independent experiments. All values are means ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.005, ***P < 0.0005, ****P < 0.0001. Statistically significant differences were determined by unpaired Student’s t test. (E) Quantification of efferocytosis of apoptotic corpses in co-cultures of human MDMs and proliferating (gray bar) or senescent IPF-derived lung fibroblasts. Senescent IPF-derived lung fibroblasts were treated with the QPCTL inhibitor SEN-177 (1, 5, 10 µM) prior the assembly of the co-culture with MDMs. Efferocytotic capability of macrophages was monitored over time using the IncuCyte S3 system. Data are representative of three independent experiments. All values are means ± SEM.