Fig 1. Vitamin D treatment inhibits expression of TGFβ₁-mediated α-smooth muscle actin.

A) Representative Western blot of cells 48 hours after treatment. Expression of the discoidin domain receptor 2 (DDR2) is present in human primary adult ventricular cardiac fibroblasts (HCF-av). CYP24 expression was upregulated 48 hours after treatment with 1,25(OH)₂D₃±TGFβ₁. Expression of α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) was upregulated 48 hours after treatment with TGFβ₁, and significantly reduced with 1,25(OH)₂D₃ co-treatment. B) Densitometry data generated from Western blots of HCF-av cells 48 hours after treatment with TGFβ₁±1,25(OH)₂D₃, and normalized to GAPDH. All data represent mean±SEM. p-values were calculated using one way analysis of variance with a Bonferroni multiple comparison test. *p<0.05, ***<p<0.001.