Figure 1.

The protein level of HSP47 in the plasma and the mRNA level of HSP47 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were both elevated in the SSc. (A) As assessed by ELISA, the level of HSP47 was elevated in the plasma of SSc patients compared with that of normal people (5.4 ± 0.2 ng/mL vs. 3.3 ± 0.1 ng/mL). (B) The level of HSP47 was elevated in the plasma of patients with anti-centromere antibody compared to patients without anti-centromere antibody (9.9 ± 1.6 ng/mL vs 3.7 ± 0.07 ng/mL). (C) Relative mRNA levels of HSP47 in the PBMC for SSc (2.0 ± 0.1) vs. normal control (0.8 ± 0.01) using RT-PCR. (D) The relative levels of mRNA of HSP47 in PBMC of patients with anti-centromere antibody compared to patients without anti-centromere antibody (1.9 ± 0.14 vs. 1.3 ± 0.04). (E) The relative mRNA levels of COL1A2 in the PBMC were SSc (24.1 ± 2.0) vs. normal (3.1 ± 0.2). (F) The relative mRNA level of COL3A1 in the PBMC were SSc (41.4 ± 3.8) vs. normal (6.0 ± 0.5). The mRNA levels of those genes were calculated using a relative ratio to GAPDH. The y axis is plotted on a logarithmic scale. Values show the means ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01