Figure 4

TGF-β1 induces CTGF mRNA and protein expression level of h PSCs and CTGF suppresses PAR-2 protein level induced by IL-1β in h PSCs. (A) h PSCs were incubated with 1, 2, 5, 10, and 30 ng/ml of TGF-β1 for 6 hours in serum-free DMEM following 24 hours of starvation (n = 3). Lane 1 as basal control and lane 2 to lane 6 were compared with basal control. (B) h PSCs were incubated in 10 ng/ml of TGF-β1 in serum-free DMEM for 12, 24, and 48 hours. TGF-β1 significantly induced cellular and medium CTGF protein level after 12, 24, and 48 hours (n = 3). Lane 1 as basal control and lane 2 to lane 4 were compared with basal control. (C) h PSCs were incubated with 1, 2, 5, 10, and 30 ng/ml of TGF-β1 for 24 hours in serum-free DMEM. TGF-β1 significantly induced cellular and medium CTGF protein level when treated with 1, 2, 5, 10, and 30 ng/ml of TGF-β1 (n = 3). Lane 1 as basal control and lane 2 to lane 6 were compared with basal control. (D) h PSCs were pre-treated with 10 ng/ml of IL-1β in serum-free DMEM for 30 minutes and then incubated in 50 ng/ml of CTGF for 12 and 24 hours in serum-free DMEM (n = 3). Lane 1 as basal control and lane 2 and lane 4 as positive controls of lane 3 and 5. Lane 2 and 4 were compared with basal control; lane 3 was compared with lane 2 and Lane 5 was compared with lane 4.