Figure 3.

Effects of Smad7 gene introduction on expression of αSMA by cultured human SCFs. Whereas western blotting did not show a reduction of protein expression of αSMA (A), immunocytochemical expression of αSMA-labeled cytoplasmic fibers was detected in the majority of cells in control cultures (B, TGFβ1 and Smad7-Ad negative) and more intense reactivity is seen in the cells treated with TGFβ1 (B, TGFβ1 positive and Smad7-Ad negative). Smad7 gene transfer decreased immunoreactivity for αSMA in the cells in the absence (B, TGFβ1 negative and Smad7-Ad positive) and presence (B, TGFβ1 positive and Smad7-Ad positive) of TGFβ1. The scale bar represents 10 μm.