Figure 2.

Comparison of the Smad7 mRNA levels between normal and scleroderma fibroblasts. Northern blot analysis of Smad7 mRNA was performed using 2 μg of Poly(A)⁺ RNA. Levels of GAPDH mRNA are shown as a loading control. One representative of five independent experiments is shown (a). Smad7 mRNA levels quantitated by scanning densitometry and corrected for the level of GAPDH in the same samples are shown relative to those in normal fibroblasts (100 AU) (b). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD of five independent experiments.