Fig. 4

AS/LIG/AS_LIG@PPGC NPs reduce the secretion of pro-inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines and thus inhibit the activation of myofibroblasts in vitro. (A). Schematic illustration of transwell migration assay. (B). Images of stained cells migrating from the upper chamber to the lower chamber with different treatments Scale bar = 20 μm. (C to E). Representative immunofluorescence images of α-SMA, COL1A1, and FN after different treatments. Scale bar = 20 μm. (F). Images of of DCFH-DA lablled ROS in TGF-β1 treated L-929 cells after different treatments. Scale bar = 20 μm. (E to K). Expression levels of typical pro-inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and TGF-β1) secreted by TGF-β1 treated L-929 cells after different treatments. The results were expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). (L, M). Western blotting analysis of expression and quantification of proteins related to pulmonary fibrosis (α-SMA, COL1A1, FN) in the cells treated as indicated. * P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001. n.s., not significant, P > 0.05