Fig. 5: TNC promoted stromal cells proliferation via STAT3 pathway.

In vivo, STAT3 and phospho-STAT3 were markedly increased after UUO, and TNC deletion significantly reduced the phospho-STAT3 levels (A). In cultured fibroblasts, exogenous TNC markedly increased the phosphorylation of STAT3, peaking at 45 min (B, C). The effect of TNC on cell proliferation was blocked by the STAT3 inhibitor Stattic (D). STAT3 is a downstream target of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). TNC also increased the phosphorylation of EGFR (E), and EGFR inhibitor reduced the cell number of TNC-induced fibroblasts proliferation (F).