Figure 8
Smad7 and SMURF2 protein levels are altered by CRIF1 downregulation in normal fibroblasts (NFs) and keloid fibroblasts (KFs). (A) NFs were transfected with CRIF1 siRNA in a dose-dependent manner for 48 h. After 48 h incubation, cells were harvested, lysed, and analyzed by western blot to assess differences in protein levels of SMAD7 and SMURF2; β-actin was used as the loading control. Protein density was calculated using ImageJ software. Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Fig. S6a. (B) KFs were transfected with CRIF1 siRNA in a dose-dependent manner for 48 h. After 48 h incubation, cells were harvested, lysed, and analyzed by western blot to assess differences in protein levels of SMAD7 and SMURF2; β-actin was used as the loading control. Protein density was calculated using ImageJ software. Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Fig. S6b. All data are presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *P < 0.05 compared to siCON. (C) Schematic representation of CRIF1 downregulation induced changes in the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway leading to the inhibition of invasive KFs.
