Figure 3.

CD147 regulates meibocyte proliferation and lipid biosynthesis. (a) BrdU incorporation was used to assess cell cycle progression. As shown by flow cytometry, treatment of human meibocytes grown in serum-free media with siRNA targeting CD147 led to a 30% decrease in the incorporation of BrdU compared with scramble control. Each of the samples was analyzed in sixtuplicate (mean±S.D.; **P<0.01, Mann Whitney test). Immunoblot experiments demonstrate decreased biosynthesis of CD147 and a 60% decrease in PCNA in human meibocytes grown in serum-free media following abrogation of CD147 using siRNA. Experiments were performed in triplicate (mean±S.D.; *P<0.05, Student's t-test). FSC, forward scatter. (b) Abrogation of CD147 using siRNA impaired intracellular accumulation of neutral lipids in differentiated meibocytes. Representative images for each condition are shown in the upper panel. Experiments were performed in triplicate (mean±S.D.; *P<0.05, Student's t-test). Immunoblot experiments demonstrate decreased biosynthesis of CD147 in differentiated meibocytes following abrogation of CD147 using siRNA. Scale bars, 20 μm