Figure 1.

The KRFK peptide activates latent transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) produced by thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1)-deficient dendritic cells, modulating its phenotype in vitro. Wild type (WT) and TSP-1-deficient bone marrow dendritic cells (BMDCs) were cultured and treated with KQFK (control) or peptide derived from TSP-1 (KRFK). (A) The percentage of active TGF-β in the supernatants was determined. (B) Relative expression of MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecule CD80 was assessed in untreated and peptide-treated TSP-1-deficient BMDCs. Statistically significant differences between samples are indicated with asterisks (* p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, *** p ≤ 0.001). WT values are significantly different compared to all other samples, as indicated by hashes (### p ≤ 0.001).