Figure 1.  .

Rho GTPase-induced increase in CTGF protein levels of TM cells. A constitutively active RhoA mutant (RhoAV14) or GFP was overexpressed in HTM cells using recombinant adenovirus. At 24 hours following adenoviral infection, cells were serum starved for another 24 hours. Cell lysates and conditioned media derived from these cells were analyzed by immunoblotting for CTGF (A, C). Compared to the GFP controls, RhoAV14 expressing cells exhibited increased CTGF protein levels in cell lysates and conditioned media. The lower panels in (A) and (C) represent β-tubulin loading controls for the cell lysates, and Coomassie blue stained images of proteins from conditioned media separated by SDS-PAGE to confirm equality of loading, respectively. (B) Densitometric analysis of CTGF protein levels in lysates revealed a significant (P < 0.05, n = 4) increase in TM cells expressing RhoAV14. (D) Significant increases also were noted in the levels of secreted CTGF protein in conditioned media from the RhoAV14/GFP expressing HTM cells, as measured by ELISA, and relative to the levels in conditioned media obtained from GFP-expressing cells (n = 4, *P < 0.05).