Figure 5.

Schematic diagram demonstrating how atorvastatin inhibits TGF-β1-induced fibrogenesis in hVFs. TGF-β1 treatment can induce activation of the Smad3 and MAPK signaling pathways, cause an increase in ECM synthesis and promote the fibrogenesis in hVFs. Atorvastatin plays a protective role and can prevent TGF-β1-induced cardiac fibrosis by inhibiting the activation of Smad3 and MAPK signaling pathways in hVFs. MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; hVFs, human ventricular fibroblasts; ECM, extracellular matrix; p-, phosphorylated; ERK1/2, extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase; TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-β1.