FIG. 5.

The induction of a time-dependent increase in cellular proliferation in immortalized human podocytes after treatment with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) for 1–6 days as measured by proliferation assay (A), cell counting (B), and the induction of PCNA and cell-cycle regulators p21 and p27 at a gene level (C) and protein level (D), as measured by real-time RT-PCR and quantified by Western blotting, respectively. At the same time, treatment with TGF-β1 (10 ng/mL) for 1–3 days also resulted in increased apoptosis, as denoted by the caspase 3/7 expression (E). *P < 0.05 vs. control.