Fig. 3.

Effects of Smad3 deletion on [³H]thymidine incorporation in hepatic satellite cells (HSCs) in vitro. Effect of Smad3 deletion in HSCs was evaluated using primary HSCs isolated from both WT and Smad3 KO (KO) mice in serum-containing media (A) and after PDGF-CC stimulation (B). A: isolated primary Smad3-null HSCs grow more slowly than WT HSCs. Isolated cells were plated in serum-containing media, and cells were counted on days 0, 2, 4, 6, 9, 11. On day 11, WT HSC cultures were confluent; Smad3 KO cultures were not. Each line represents HSCs from individual mice. S3KO, Smad3 knockout. B: PDGF-CC-induced HSC [³H]thymidine incorporation is significantly decreased in Smad3-null HSCs. Isolated HSCs were cultured for 7 days, serum starved, and then either treated with PDGF-CC (25 ng/ml) or left untreated. [³H]thymidine incorporation was used to assess cell proliferation. These data are representative of two independent experiments. *P < 0.05.