Cytokines and Growth Factors Promote Airway Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Figure 3

Induction of the MAPK and PI3K signalling in rabbit tracheal ASMCs incubated with TNF-α or IL-1β. Left: western blot analysis with (a) antiphospho-p42/44, (b) antiphospho-p38, and (c) antiphospho-Akt and anti-β-actin antibodies in total protein cell extracts from rabbit tracheal smooth muscle cells incubated for 4 h with TNF-α (1 ng/mL) or IL-1β (15 ng/mL). Right: mean fold expression of (a) phospho-p42/44, (b) phospho-p38, or (c) phospho-Akt to β-actin. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, and 𝑁 refers to the number of independent experiments. *𝑃<0.05, **𝑃<0.01, and ***𝑃<0.001 compared to control (one-way ANOVA with statistically significant differences between groups being determined by Bonferroni’s posttest).

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