FIGURE 3.

Inhibition of autophagy with 3-MA blocks EMT in PF rats by regulating TGF-β/Smad3 signaling pathway and downstream nuclear transcription factors: Slug and Snail. (A) TGF-β1 level in peritoneum from each group by ELISA kit detection. (B) Peritoneum tissue lysates were subjected to immunoblot analysis with specific antibodies against TGF-βRI, p-Smad3, Smad3 and GAPDH. (C) Expression level of TGF-βRI was quantified by densitometry and normalized with GAPDH. (D) Expression level of p-Smad3 was quantified by densitometry and normalized with Smad3. (E) Photomicrographs illustrate immunohistochemistry staining of p-Smad3 from peritoneal tissues. (F) Peritoneum tissue lysates were subjected to immunoblot analysis with specific antibodies against Slug, Snail and GAPDH. (G, H) Expression levels of Slug and Snail were quantified by densitometry and normalized with GAPDH. Data are represented as the mean ± SEM. Means with different superscript letters are significantly different from one another (p < 0.05). All scale bars = 100 μm.