Fig. 1

Effects of TGF-β₁ stimulation in combination with macromolecular crowding on collagen type I deposition in vitro. a Confluent IPF lung fibroblasts were incubated with TGF-β₁ in media containing ficoll (PM70 & PM400) and ascorbic acid. After 1, 3 and 5 days, immunocytochemical analysis of deposited collagen type I (Alexa-488) was assessed (representative images). b Mean fluorescent intensity of deposited collagen type I represented in (a). c Immunocytochemical analysis of the effects of TGF-β₁ concentration response on collagen type I deposition from IPF fibroblasts after 72 h. d Quantification of collagen deposition (c), after 72 h TGF-β₁ stimulation of IPF lung fibroblasts. All data points and images are representative of 3 independent experiments using 10x magnification. Scale bars represent 200 μm. Data points represent mean ± SEM. **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001 as determined by Mann-Whitney (b), or one-way ANOVA (d)