Research Paper Volume 18 pp 67—81

Transcriptional levels of α-SMA or Col3A1 in lung fibroblasts with or without p38 MAPK inhibitor. (A, B) α-SMA (A) or Col3A1 (B) mRNA were checked in IMR90 cells with SB202190 (SB20) alone, or 2 h before TGF-β1 treatment at 2ng/ml, all collected after 24 hours of adding TGF- β1. mRNA expression was measured by real-time RT-PCR and normalize to β-actin. (C–E) Primary lung fibroblasts from three different IPF patients were treated with SB202190 for 24h, followed by RNA collection and measurement of α-SMA and Col3A1 mRNA expression by real-time RT-PCR, normalized to β-actin. Results are averages of at least three independent experiments. Bar graphs indicate mean ± standard errors (SE). * p<0.05, compared to the vehicle control (Ctrl) within the same group; # p<0.05 compared to TGF-β1 treated group.