Fig. 1

HDAC7 participates in CTGF and α-SMA expression induced by ET-1 stimulation in WI-38 cells. A HDAC7 was knocked down by transfection with small interfering (si)RNA for 24 h. After 2 h of treatment by ET-1, the protein level of CTGF in the WI-38 cells was evaluated using Western blot analysis. α-Tubulin acted as loading control. Bars represent values of the mean ± SEM (n = 5). *p < 0.05, compared with the ET-1 treatment group. B Cells were transfected with CTGF-Luc (1 μg), Lac Z (1 μg), and HDAC7 siRNA for 24 h and then stimulated by ET-1 treatment for 16 h. Luciferase activity was evaluated as described in “Materials and methods.” Bars represent values of the mean ± SEM (n = 4). *p < 0.05, compared with ET-1 treatment. C, After transfection of HDAC7 siRNA for 24 h, cells were treated with ET-1 for 48 h, and then α-SMA expression was analyzed using immunoblotting. α-Tubulin was used as loading control. Bars represent values of the mean ± SEM (n = 5)