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. 2014 Apr 21;19(4):4967–4985. doi: 10.3390/molecules19044967

Figure 6.

Figure 6

mPGES-1-derived PGE2 exerts a beneficial effect against α-SMA expression induced by TGF-β1 in MRC-5 cells via EP2 receptor-mediated signaling transduction. After starvation and siRNA transfection, the cells were co-incubated with TGF-β1 and various concentrations of PGE2 (0, 1, 10, 50, 100 nmol/mL) for 24 hours or with TGF-β1 and various EP agonists (sulprostone for EP1 and EP3, butaprost for EP2, and CAY10580 for EP4, 100 nmol/mL) for 24 h. (A) siRNA treatment on mPGES-1 mRNA level in MRC-5 cells; (B) Knockdown of mPGES-1 augmented TGF-β1’s stimulatory effect on α-SMA protein expression;(C) PGE2 dose-dependently inhibited α-SMA protein expression induced by TGF-β1 in MRC-5 cells with mPGES-1 siRNA transfection; (D) Butaprost, EP2 agonist, decreased α-SMA protein expression induced by TGF-β1 in MRC-5 cells with mPGES-1 siRNA transfection. Results are expressed as means ± SEM (n = 3) (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ns, not significant).