Fig 3.

Decreased expression of phosphorylated Smad2 in mice receiving anti-TGF-β treatment. TGF-β signaling was evaluated by quantifying the total levels of Smad2 and Smad3 and their phosphorylation in lung tissue by Western blot 48 h after intranasal infection with B. pseudomallei. The left 4 lanes show the expression of Smad2 (A) and Smad3 (B) in lung tissue of control mice and the right 4 lanes of mice that received anti-TGF-β treatment (2 × 200 μg TGFβ antibody). The bar graph shows the ratio of expressed phosphorylated Smad/total Smad corrected for actin loading levels. (C) A significant decrease in p-Smad2 is demonstrated in mice that were treated with anti-TGF-β antibody. *, P < 0.05.