Figure 1.

ST2 cells and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) treated with substance P (SP) exhibited impaired migration in response to transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), but not stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1). ST2 cells or BM-MSCs were pretreated for 12 h with SP (+SP; blue dots) or solvent (−SP; black dots) prior to their application in a transwell migration assay using TGF-β ((A,B) for ST2; and (E,F) for BM-MSCs) or SDF-1 ((C,D) for ST2; and (G,H) for BM-MSCs) as the stimulant. The control groups (CON) were treated with a solvent vehicle in all experiments. White arrows indicate the migrated cells on the lower membrane surface. Cells were stained with DAPI (blue) and the number of migrated cells is shown as a percentage of the total. The red lines indicate the mean value (p values were obtained by t-tests. n.s.; not significant) and the scale bar represents 100 µm.