Skip to main content
. 2016 Sep 21;6:34012. doi: 10.1038/srep34012

Figure 2. NE-induced phosphorylation of p38 via ARβ enhanced IL-6 production in SSc fibroblasts.

Figure 2

(A,C) Phosphorylation of p38 in normal (A) and SSc (C) fibroblasts treated with oxymetazoline (Ox) or isoproterenol (Iso) by immunoblotting. (B,D) Phosphorylation of p38 in normal (B) and SSc (D) fibroblasts treated with NE and/or ARβ inhibitor, propranolol (P) by immunoblotting. Quantification of relative phosphorylation levels of p38 was accomplished via densitometry using ImageJ. The level of p38 phosphorylation in normal or SSc fibroblasts without treatment was assigned a value of 1. n = 3 samples. Cropped blots were used, full-length blots are in Supplementary Figure S3. All gels have been run under the same experimental conditions. (E,F) IL-6 mRNA (E) and secreted protein (F) into the media in normal and SSc fibroblasts treated with NE (10 μM) and/or p38 inhibitor, SB203580 (SB) for 1 hour. n = 3 samples. mRNA levels in normal fibroblasts without treatments were assigned a value of 1. (G) p38 mRNA in SSc fibroblasts transfected with control or p38 siRNA. (H,I) IL-6 mRNA (H) and secreted protein (I) into the media in SSc fibroblasts transfected with control or p38 siRNA treated with or without NE. mRNA levels in control siRNA transfected SSc fibroblasts without treatments were assigned a value of 1. n = 3 samples. All values represent mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05.