Figure 3. Effect of MAPK on the TGF-β1 induced expression of IL-6. Three independent primary cultures of HTM cells were serum-starved for 16 h, pre-treated for 2 h with the MAPK inhibitors, and then incubated in serum-free media with TGF-β1 (5 ng/ml) in the presence of the MAPK inhibitors (10 μM). A: Secreted IL-6 quantified by ELISA at 16 h post-treatment is shown. B: Differential IL-6 mRNA expression compared to control-DMSO, calculated at 6 h post-treatment. The asterisk indicates that p is greater than 0.001, and a double asterisk denotes that p is less than 0.001. Statistical significance between groups was assessed by the paired Student's t-test (n=3).