Fig. 5.

Sustained application of ADM attenuates the expression of differentiation markers in myofibroblasts and reduces their contractile force. Quiescent fibroblasts were treated with TGF-β1 for 24 h and then transduced with Ad-ADM or control Ad-LacZ adenoviruses for an additional 48 h. A: cell extracts were analyzed for the expression of desired proteins by Western blotting. The representative densitometry expressed as percent of TGF-β-treated condition is indicated below the corresponding Western blots. *Significant differences between Ad-LacZ and Ad-ADM conditions (P < 0.05; n = 3). B: equal numbers of cells were reseeded on collagen-coated polyacrylamide gel substrates (Young's modulus = 4 kPa) and allowed to spread overnight. The contractility of the cell cluster was quantified using monolayer traction microscopy as described in methods. Plotted is the average ± SD contraction over nine fields per condition.