Figure 6.

Effect of activin A and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) on each other’s secretion and mRNA expression of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs). (A, B) Concentration of activin A (A) and TGF-β (B) secreted from PSCs into culture medium was quantified after 48 hours of incubation with the indicated amounts of TGF-β (A) or activin A (B). Results are means (SEM) of three independent experiments (*p<0.05, **p<0.01). (C, D) mRNA expression of activin A βA subunit (C) and TGF-β (D) was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction after 24 hours of incubation with the indicated amounts of TGF-β (C) or activin A (D), using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA expression as a control.