Fig. 4

Inhibition of HTRA1 attenuated the activation of cardiac fibroblasts induced by TGFβ1. A The enrichment prediction score of HTRA1 in heart tissue cell types from HPA datasets (https://www.proteinatlas.org/). B Linear regression showing positive correlation between HTRA1 and fibroblast marker (Vimentin) in human (GSE116250, n = 51) and mouse heart tissues (GSE97642, n = 10). C Representative immunofluorescence images showing the colocalization of HTRA1 and cardiac fibroblast marker (Vimentin) in human and mouse heart tissues. The scale bar indicates 20 μm. D Representative western blot showing the change of HTRA1 protein expression in activated cardiac fibroblasts induced by TGFβ1. E qRT-pcr and western blot exhibiting the knockdown effect of HTRA1 siRNA. Representative western blot displaying the changes of fibrogenic proteins, including CTGF, α-SMA, Col1 and Fib, after inhibiting (F) or overexpressing (G) HTRA1. Representative immune blot (H) and immunofluorescence images (I) showing the fibrogenic proteins expression such as Col1 and α-SMA. The scale bar indicates 20 μm. Primary cardiac fibroblasts were transfected with HTRA1-siRNA, and/or treated with TGFβ1 for 48 h