Skip to main content
. 2023 Apr 9;24(8):6972. doi: 10.3390/ijms24086972

Figure 4.

Figure 4

ET-1 acts as a downstream effector of Ang II and TGF-β1, which induces α-SMA and collagen I expression and stress fiber formation through the ETARs. (A–C) Serum-starved adult HCFs were incubated with LY2109761 (TGF-β inh; 5 µM), bosentan (1 µM), or valsartan (valsar; 1 µM) for 1 h before stimulation with 20 nM ET-1 for 6 h (A) or 24 h (B,C). (D–F) Serum-starved adult HCFs were pretreated with 1 µM ambrisentan (ambri; ETAR antagonist) or 1 µM BQ788 (ETBR antagonist) for 1 h before stimulation with 20 nM ET-1 for 6 h (D) or 24 h (E,F). (A,D) Relative mRNA levels of fibrotic markers, α-SMA, and collagen I were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 4). After treatment, immunofluorescence staining was used to determine α-SMA expression (green) (B,E) and stress fiber formation (red) (C,F). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 10 μm. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 3). * p < 0.05 vs. vehicle; # p < 0.05 vs. ET-1.