Figure 3.

BMP-7 suppresses collagen deposition and fibrotic protein expression in scar tissues. (A) Masson's trichrome staining was performed to examine collagen fibers in skin tissues of mice from the different groups (magnification, ×200; scale bars, 100 µm). (B) The protein expression levels of collagen I and collagen III were determined by western blot analysis, and protein levels were quantified by densitometric analysis. β-actin was used as a loading control. (C) Protein expression levels of fibrosis-associated proteins, α-SMA, TGF-β1 and CTGF, as determined by western blot analysis. Protein levels were quantified by densitometric analysis. The results are presented as the mean + standard deviation (n=6), and are representative of three independent experiments. *P<0.05 and **P<0.01 vs. control group; ^#P<0.05 vs. untreated thermal injury group. BMP-7, bone morphogenetic protein-7; α-SMA, α-smooth muscle actin; TGF, transforming growth factor; CTGF, connective tissue growth factor.