Figure 6.
Effects of IL-6 and its soluble receptor sIL-6-R on migration and proliferation of human pulmonary-artery smooth muscle cells. Effects of IL-6 and of its soluble receptor sIL-6-R on migration of human pulmonary-artery smooth muscle cells studied using a modified Boyden's chamber (a). The transwell assay demonstrated that both IL-6 and sIL-6R promoted PA-SMC migration and that the effect was stronger when IL-6 and sIL-6R were combined. Each bar is the mean ± SEM for 5 individuals (*P < 0.01, **P < 0.001 vs. basal condition). [3H]thymidine incorporation in cultured pulmonary-artery smooth muscle cells (PA-SMCs) from 5 patients (b). The cells were incubated with IL-6, sIL-6R, or both (100 ng/ml of each compound), in the presence of 0.3% fetal calf serum (FCS). Values are the means ± SEM.