FIGURE 13.

Blockade of NHE1 with EIPA inhibits BMP7-driven prevention and reversal of myofibroblast phenotype. A, cells were grown to confluence, growth-arrested, and then treated under various cytokine conditions as indicated, before extraction with TRIzol reagent. RNAs were purified, reverse-transcribed, and assessed for α-SMA mRNA expression using RT-QPCR. Results are shown as the mean ± S.E. of three individual experiments. Statistical significance was assessed using the paired Student's t test, and p < 0.05 was considered as significant. B and C, fibroblasts were grown to 70% confluence before growth arrest in serum-free medium for 48 h. Cells were then incubated under the various cytokine treatments, as indicated, and subsequently fixed and stained for α-SMA (B) and HABP (C). Original magnification ×400, and all images are representative of three individual experiments.