Fig. 7.

Selenite inhibits TGFβ1-mediated fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation. PrSCs were pretreated for 12 h with 5 nm sodium selenite or mock control before stimulation with 1 ng/ml bFGF or TGFβ1 in the presence or absence of selenite for a further 24 h. Cells were subsequently processed for (A) ROS determination via luminol-based chemilumiscence (panel A), qPCR of the indicated genes (panel B), Western blotting of total cell lysates using the antibodies indicated (panel C) or phase contrast microscopy (panel D) (magnification ×40). Note the thin, elongated, and light-refractive phenotype of bFGF-treated PrSCs (fibroblasts) in comparison with the flattened and less light-refractive morphology of TGFβ1-differentiated PrSCs (myofibroblasts). C and D, Images are representative of at least four independent experiments using different donors. A and B, Values represent mean fold change (±sem) relative to bFGF control (without selenite) from four independent experiments using different donors. Significance is indicated (**, P < 0.01; *, P < 0.05; ns not significant).