Figure 5.

TGF-β signaling mediates dermal contraction. Control and Tgfbr2^dermalKO dermal fibroblasts had significantly different in vitro collagen I gel contractile ability after 3 days of culture (mean indicated by line, P < 0.0001) (A). Cells treated with or without TGF-β for 6 hours were examined by Western blotting to determine the activation of Smad 2, expression of β1 integrin, and collagen type IV (B). Real time RT-PCR indicated mRNA expression of α1 integrin, α2 integrin, and β1 integrin (C); and collagen type I α1, collagen type I α2, and collagen type III (D). Control fibroblast expression (light colored bars) had generally greater integrin and collagen isoform expression compared with that of Tgfbr2^dermalKO fibroblasts (dark bars). Error bars indicate SD (n = 3).