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Fig. 4 | Cell Communication and Signaling

Fig. 4

From: Activin a promotes myofibroblast differentiation of endometrial mesenchymal stem cells via STAT3-dependent Smad/CTGF pathway

Fig. 4

Activin A-induced CTGF expression in endometrial MSCs involves activation of Smad2/3. a Eutopic endometrial MSCs derived from patients without endometriosis (n = 3) were treated with 25 ng/mL Activin A for indicated time. The protein expression of p-Smad2, p-Smad3 and Smad2/3 was analyzed by Western blot. b, c Eutopic endometrial MSCs derived from patients without endometriosis (n = 3) were treated with 25 ng/mL recombinant human Activin A for 1 h. The protein expression of p-Smad2, p-Smad3 and Smad2/3 was analyzed by Western blot (b). The localization of Smad2/3 was examined by immunofluorescence analysis. The nuclei were stained with DAPI (c). d Eutopic endometrial MSCs derived from patients without endometriosis (n = 3) were treated with 0.18 μg/mL αActivin A for 1 h and then 25 ng/mL recombinant human Activin A for 1 h, ChIP was used to analyze the binding of Smad2/3 with CTGF promoter region. ***P < 0.001 versus the cells treated with neither Activin A nor αActivin A. The data were presented as means ± SD. ###P < 0.001 versus the cells treated with Activin A alone

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