Figure 5.

Effects of an ASK1 inhibitor on Ang II-mediated proliferation and ECM-related protein expression in LX-2 cells. LX-2 cells were treated with Ang II alone or cotreated with Ang II and an ASK1 inhibitor (GS-4997). (a) Immunofluorescence images of α-SMA in LX-2 cells. (b) Cell viability was determined by the CCK-8 assay. (c) Quantitative real-time PCR and (d) western blotting were performed to measure the levels of α-SMA, Col I, and Col III expression in LX-2 cells. Results are expressed as the mean value ± standard deviation (SD). ^∗∗p < 0.01 vs. blank; ^#p < 0.05 vs. Ang II.