Figure 1. Expression of Fibronectin in human hypertrophic scar tissue.

Fibronectin is one of the key molecules in hypertrophic scar contracture. We investigated whether mechanical stretching increases the expression of Fibronectin. a; Western Blot analysis with anti-Fibronectin antibody demonstrated that the expression of Fibronectin protein in human primary fibroblasts was increased when they were subjected to 24 hours of repetitive stretching. There were 3 samples per group. To improve the clarity and the conciseness of the data, the blots were cropped. Uncropped, full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figures S4 and 5. b; Immunohistochemical staining with anti-Fibronectin showed that Fibronectin was strongly stained around the cell cluster in human hypertrophic scar tissue whereas the fibrous connective structure was homogenously stained in normal skin tissue. Scale bars represent 500 μm in 4× images and 200 μm in 10× images.