Fig. 3.

Effect of galectin-9 on fibrotic markers and the TGF-β signaling pathway in lung fibroblast cells. a αSMA and β-actin expression determined by immunoblotting in primary lung fibroblast cells of galectin-9 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice treated with the indicated concentrations of TGF-β for 24 h. b Protein expression levels were normalized to the level of β-actin. The relative fold changes in expression levels of the galectin-9 WT and KO groups were respectively compared with the levels of TGF-β untreated cells (0 ng/ml). Data are shown as the mean ± SD, n = 3. c Primary lung fibroblast cells of galectin-9 WT and KO mice treated with the indicated concentrations of TGFβ for 24 h. The mRNA levels of COL1A1, CTGF, and ET-1 were determined by qPCR. The relative value was compared to that of the control group. d Western blot analysis of p-Smad2, p-Smad3, Smad2/3, and β-actin. Protein expression levels were normalized to the level of β-actin. The relative fold changes in expression levels of the galectin-9 WT and KO groups were respectively compared with those of TGF-β untreated cells (0 ng/ml). Data are shown as the mean ± SD, n = 3