Maintaining resting cardiac fibroblasts in vitro by disrupting mechanotransduction
Fig 5
Reversibility of myofibroblasts depends on the duration of prior culturing time on plastic.
A and B) Schematic illustrations of protocols used in C and D, respectively. Cardiac fibroblasts were cultured on plastic for 6 (A) or 13 (B) days (d) and then treated with blockers of ROCK (Y27) and TGFβRI (SB) for 3d. C and D) mRNA expression of myofibroblast markers actin alpha 2 smooth muscle (Acta2), connective tissue growth factor (Ctgf), collagen (Col) 1a1, Col3a1, lysyl oxidase (Lox) and periostin (Postn) in cardiac fibroblasts treated with Y27 and SB (reversed; grey bars) relative to untreated cardiac fibroblast (control; black bars). The myofibroblast marker gene measurements in D are also shown in the heat map of Fig 4H. Significant differences were determined by Student’s t-test. N = 6 (C) and N = 3 (D).