Figure 4.

HIF1α mediates the effect of hypoxia on CTGF in PHTs. Term PHT cells were cultured for 24 h in serum free medium in the absence or presence of CoCl₂ (0, 0.1, 0.2 mm) or DMOG (0, 0.25, 0.5 μm). A, CTGF mRNA, measured using RT-qPCR (the influence of both chemicals was significant at P < 0.05). B, Intracellular CTGF protein. C, CTGF protein in the tissue culture medium. D, Intracellular HIF1α levels. E, The effect of hypoxia on HIF1α protein, in the presence or absence of 2meE₂ (0, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3 μm). F, The influence of 2meE₂ on the expression of CTGF and VEGF (as a control) in standard culture conditions (Std) (FiO₂ = 20%) or in hypoxia (Hpx) (FiO₂ ≤ 1%), determined using RT-qPCR. Cells were cultured for 12 h in the absence or presence of 2meE₂ (0, 0.1, 1, 10 μm), and then exposed to hypoxia for 24 h (*, P < 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA with post hoc Dunnett’s test; n = 3).