Figure 5. Targeted inhibition of MKP-1 expression enhances p38 MAPK activation and reduces Bcl-2 expression in HMCs treated with r-CTGF.

At 24 h after mock transfecting, or transfecting HMCs with MKP-1 siRNA (A) or treating them with MKP-1 antisense and control antisense oligonucleotides (B), cells were incubated with or without 20 ng/ml r-CTGF for different periods of time. Equal amounts of total protein were subjected to SDS/PAGE and analysed by Western blotting using anti-MKP-1, phospho-p38 MAPK, p38 MAPK and Bcl-2 antibodies. Results are representative of three separate experiments.