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. 2012 Mar 27;7(3):e33659. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033659

Figure 1. X4 HIV-1 gp120 induces fibrogenic gene expression in human stellate cells.

Figure 1

(A) LX-2 cells were serum-starved for 24 hrs, treated with X4 HIV-1 gp120 at a final concentration of 500 ng/ml for 2 hours, RNA harvested, reverse transcribed, and qRT-PCR performed for TGF-ß1, type I TGF-ß receptor, a-SMA and coll I (a1) mRNA levels. To confirm X4 gp120 effects were CD4-independent, cells were pre-incubated with 25 µg/mL anti-CD4 30 minutes prior to challenge with X4 gp120. (B, C) Effect on collagen I (a1) was confirmed in primary HSCs with both X4 gp120 as well as AT-2 treated X4-tropic HIV-IIIB, which presents gp120 in its oligomeric confirmation. All data are expressed as means +/− standard deviation of at least three independent experiments.