Fig. 4.

GAS inhibits the differentiation, collagen synthesis, and migration of HG-PA-exposed CFs.  HG-PA (35 mM or 20 µM) with or without GAS (1 µM or 5 µM) treatment for 48 h. A Value-added effects of different concentrations of HG exposure in CFs. B Value-added effects of HG combined with various PA doses on CFs. C Safe concentrations of CFs for GAS exposure. D Rescue effects of GAS in HG-PA. E Immunoblotting of the fibrosis-associated proteins α-SMA, TGFβ1, Collagen I, and Collagen III. F–G Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was performed to detect the mRNA expression levels of α-SMA, TGFβ1, Collagen I, and Collagen III. J Representative images and quantitative results of the immunofluorescent analysis of α-SMA, α-SMA (red), and DAPI (blue) staining of the cell nuclei; scale bar = 50 μm. K. Wound healing assay at 0 and 48 h. Images were captured to assess cell migration ability by measuring the distance between advancing edges of the cells; scale bar = 50 μm. L. Immunoblotting of KLK8 proteins. M. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was performed to detect KLK8 mRNA expression levels. The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments; *p  < 0.05, **p  < 0.01, ***p  < 0.001, and ****p  < 0.0001.