Fig. 6
In Vitro Experiments Confirm That SCF/c-Kit Promotes TECs Fibrosis via NF-κB Pathway Activation. A Western blot analysis showed that after SCF stimulation, the expression of α-SMA, vimentin, and collagen I was significantly increased in the WT compared to the control and c-kit cKO. Except for α-SMA, no statistically significant differences were observed in other markers between the control and c-kit cKO. The ratios of pp65/p65 and p-IκBα/IκBα in the WT were significantly higher than those in the other two groups, while no significant difference in pp65/p65 was detected between the c-kit cKO and control. (n = 3). C Western blot results indicated that the expression of fibrosis markers (α-SMA, vimentin, collagen I) was higher in both the SCF and SCF + SC-75741 groups compared to the control, with the most significant upregulation observed in the SCF group. (n = 3). B, D Quantitative bar charts of fibrosis-related proteins (α-SMA, vimentin, collagen I) and NF-κB pathway proteins (pp65/p65, p-IκBα/IκBα) normalized to Gapdh and β-actin. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. WT: Wild Type; SCF: Stem Cell Factor; TECs: Tubular Epithelial Cells; UUO: Unilateral Ureteral Obstruction; α-SMA: Alpha-Smooth Muscle Actin; IκBα: inhibitor of kappa B alpha; NF-κB: Nuclear Factor Kappa-Light-Chain-Enhancer of Activated B Cell.
