Figure 5.

Induction of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) by transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 in keloid fibroblasts. Keloid-derived fibroblasts (KDFs) were grown in 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) (Nissui Pharmaceutical, Tokyo, Japan) until confluency. Then, the media were changed to DMEM without FCS for serum depletion and the cells were incubated for 24 hours. The cells were re-fed with fresh DMEM (Nissui Pharmacetical) without FCS containing 1 ng/mL human recombinant TGF-β1 or a mock solution. After incubation for 24 hours, the cells were harvested and subjected to Western blot. The COMP/β-actin ratios were determined and expressed as the relative of COMP/β-actin of each control sample (a mock treatment). The lower graph shows mean ± SD of COMP/β-actin protein ratios using the KDFs from three different patients (n = 3). Statistical difference was determined by the Student's t-test. **P < 0.01