Fig. 2

Omentin-1 inhibited TGF-β1-induced activation of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs). α-SMA, COL1, and COL3 protein levels in non-treated and treated CFs were detected via western blotting (a). The mRNA levels of α-SMA, COL1a, and COL3a1were detected via RT-qPCR. Expression of mRNA was normalized to GAPDH. (b) Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for α-SMA in CFs (c) (200× magnification) showed the antifibrotic effect of omentin-1. p-SMAD2, t-SMAD2, p-SMAD3, t-SMAD3 protein levels in CFs were detected via western blotting (d). (e) CF proliferation assay. (f) Representative images of the CFs scratch assay (100× magnification). The values were mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 vs control group, **P < 0.01 vs control group, ***P < 0.001 vs control group, †P < 0.05 vs TGF-β1 group, ††P < 0.01 vs TGF-β1 group, †††P < 0.001 vs TGF-β1 group