Fig. 4

HLFs differentiation towards myofibroblast after exposure to inflammatory cytomix is linked to the characteristic feature of CTD-UIP HLF’s phenotype. a, b Western blot was performed on normal HLFs treated with cytomix (a mixture of cytokines) (a) or TGF-β/IL-6 (b) for examination of expression of α-SMA, vimentin, and fibronectin. Data are representative of three independent experiments. c Levels of cytokines and chemokines were measured in culture supernatants of human lung fibroblasts (HLF) from patients with CTD-UIP (CTD-UIP HLF) and normal controls (NHLF) using Luminex multiplex technology. Data are representative of two independent experiments. Significance of difference between independent groups of data (mean ± SD) was analyzed by Student’s t test (two-tailed). * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 for all comparisons between CTD-IP-HLF and NHLF. CTR-UIP-HLF HLF isolated from the lung tissues pathologically diagnosed with UIP in CTD-IP patients, NHLF normal human lung fibroblasts, TGF-β transforming growth factor-β, IL-6 interleukin-6, α-SMA α-smooth muscle actin