Fig. 3.

Effect of mechanical stretch and IL-10 on TIMP-2 and MMP-2/TIMP-2 ratio. a E18–19 fibroblasts were harvested and subjected to 20% mechanical stretch for 48 h. Unstretched samples were used as controls. Levels of TIMP-2 present in cell lysates before and after stretch in the presence and absence of IL-10 were measured by Western blots. Results were normalized to GAPDH. Upper panels are representative blots. Data in the lower panel are mean ± SEM from five different experiments. *P < 0.05. b Values of MMP-2 release into the supernatant were divided by the corresponding values of TIMP-2 in the cell lysate. *P < 0.05