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. 2020 Feb 19;11(2):136. doi: 10.1038/s41419-020-2329-z

Fig. 2. Microcystin-LR antagonizes activation of the TGF-β signaling pathway and expression of fibrotic markers in rats with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

Fig. 2

Rats were treated as explained in Fig. 1. a Expression of TGF-β signaling pathway molecules, including TGF-β1, p-Smad2, Smad2, p-Smad3, Smad3 and prolyl 4-hydroxylase subunit αIII (P4HA3) in rat pulmonary tissues was measured by western blot (one-way ANOVA; TGF-β1: F4,10 = 3.726, P = 0.042; p-Smad2: F4,10 = 5.790, P = 0.011; p-Smad3: F4,10 = 5.720, P = 0.012; P4HA3: F4,10 = 3.861, P = 0.038; n = 3). b Protein levels of the fibrotic markers, including fibronectin, collagen 1α1 and α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA) in rat pulmonary tissues was measured by western blot (one-way ANOVA; fibronectin: F4,10 = 3.742, P = 0.041; collagen 1α1: F4,10 = 5.808, P = 0.011; αSMA: F4,10 = 4.722, P = 0.021; n = 3). c–e Expression of fibronectin, collagen 1α1 and αSMA at the mRNA level in rat pulmonary tissues was examined by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). One-way ANOVA, fibronectin: F4,28 = 7.024, P < 0.000; collagen 1α1: F4,28 = 3.317, P = 0.024; αSMA: F4,28 = 2.841, P = 0.043. n = 5 (bleomycin) or n = 7 (all the other treatments). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 determined by one-way ANOVA with S-N-K multiple-comparison test.