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. 2022 Feb 1;132(3):e146926. doi: 10.1172/JCI146926

Figure 6. Smad7 overexpression restrains the TGF-β–induced increase in α-SMA and attenuates collagen I and fibronectin expression, without affecting collagen III levels.

Figure 6

(A) Efficiency of the Smad7 overexpression (OE) strategy was assessed by comparing Smad7 protein levels between cardiac fibroblasts transfected with a Smad7 cDNA plasmid (S7OE) and cells transfected with a control entry vector (Control). (B) Smad7 overexpression restrains myofibroblast conversion, markedly attenuating α-SMA protein levels in basal and TGF-β–induced conditions. (C–N) A PCR array shows that Smad7 overexpression (S7OE) attenuates synthesis of Col1a1 (C), Fn (G), and Tsp2 (J) without affecting Col3a1 transcription (D). (K–N) In contrast, expression of matrix remodeling genes, such as those encoding MMPs and TIMPs, is modestly affected by Smad7 overexpression. For comparisons between multiple groups (A and B), 1-way ANOVA was performed followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. For comparisons between 2 groups (C–N), unpaired, 2-tailed Student’s t test was performed with Welch’s correction for unequal variances (n = 3 per group). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.