Fig. 3.

Effect of IL-6 and IL-6+sIL6R on HASM cell proliferation. HASM were treated with serum-free media containing vehicle, 20, 40, and 80 ng/ml of IL-6; 20, 40, and 80 ng/ml each of IL-6+sIL6R; or 20, 40, and 80 ng/ml of sIL6R for 24 h. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation was assessed as described in materials and methods. IL-6+sIL6R treatment resulted in a significant increase (**P < 0.05, Friedman test) in HASM proliferation compared with controls in a dose-dependent fashion. Data (means ± SE) are pooled from experiments using 5 individual cell lines.