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. 2014 Feb 27;9(2):e89179. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089179

Figure 1. TGF-β induces vascular smooth muscle cells differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells through nuclear translocation of Smad3.

Figure 1

A) Rat mesenchymal cells treated with TGF-β for 14 days were stained for phospho-Smad3 immunofluorescence (red) and counterstained with DAPI (blue) to determine phospho-Smad3 subcellular localization. In TGF-β treated cells, positive phospho-Smad3 immunofluorescence was localized into the nucleus. Original magnification: 40x. B) Vascular smooth muscle actin (VSM-actin, green) was stained and the nuclei were counter-stained with DAPI showing cytoskeleton organization in Control cells and TGF-β treated cells. Original magnification: 20x.C) After 7 and 14 days, TGF-β induced the expression of vascular smooth muscle cells markers such as VSM-actin, SM22α, Myocardin and Myosin heavy chain with respect to control cells (a p<0.001 vs. control cells). Images are representative of three experiments.