Fig. 2.

The effect of TMP treatment on morphological and molecular changes in primary endometriotic stromal cells. A Representative micrographs of human primary endometriotic stromal cells (HESCs) treated with buffer or activated platelets (by thrombin) for 72 h. Scale bar = 100 μm. B Representative micrographs of HESCs first co-cultured with activated platelets for 72 h, and then treated either with PBS + final concentration of 0.1% DMSO (control or CTL), TMP with a final concentration of 25 μMol/mL (low-dose TMP or L-TMP), or TMP with a final concentration of 100 μmol/mL (high-dose LMP, or H-TMP), for 72 h. Scale bar = 100 μm. C Relative fold change in gene expression levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA, CCN2, and collagen I in HESCs treated with the 3 conditions mentioned above for 72 h (n = 5). Values are normalized to GAPDH expression. D Detection of protein levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA, Smad3, phosphorylated Smad3 (p-Smad3), and collagen I by immunoblotting of lysates of HESCs treated with the indicated conditions as in B. E Relative fold change of protein expression levels of TGF-β1, α-SMA, Smad3, p-Smad3, and collagen I in HESCs treated with the indicated conditions as in B for 72 h (n = 8). In panels C and E, linear regression analysis was used, with the TMP concentration as the co-variable. The red arrow indicates the linear trend of concentration dependency. Symbols of statistical significance levels: *: p < 0.05; **: p < 0.01; ***: p < 0.001. Data are represented in means ± SDs