Fig. 4.

An intact cytoskeleton and MMPs are required for thrombin mediated Smad2 phosphorylation. VSMCs were pre-incubated with treated MMP inhibitor, GM6001 (10 μM) and ROCK inhibitor Y27632 (10 μM) and then exposed to thrombin for 120 min. Blots were probed with antibodies specific to a. phospho-Smad2/3(Thr220/179) or b. phospho-Smad2(Ser245/250/255). Blots are representative of three-independent experiments. Histogram represents band density expressed as fold per basal. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA, followed by least significant difference post-hoc analysis ##,p < 0.01 versus basal and **, p < 0.01 agonist versus antagonist