Fig. 7

a. Immunofluorescence photomicrographs for Smad7 in the peritoneal membrane of the different groups (× 400). Muscle tissue served as a positive control for the immunofluorescence reaction. Only a few positive cells were detected in the Control and CKD groups. Numerous Smad7-positive cells were observed in the PF and CKD/PF groups. TAM and rBMP7 promoted an important increase in the number of Smad7-positive cells in the peritoneal membrane. b Quantification analysis demonstrated significantly higher numbers of Smad7-positive cells in the TAM and rBMP7 groups than in all other groups. c qRT-PCR confirmed the above immunofluorescence findings, showing markedly increased Smad7 mRNA expression in the peritoneal membrane of the TAM and rBMP7 groups compared to all the other groups. Overall ANOVA p < 0.0001. Post-test p-values: *p < 0.01 vs Control; ^#p < 0.01 vs CKD, ^†p < 0.01 vs PF, ^§p < 0.01 vs PF/CKD, ^ϕp < 0.01 vs PF/CKD + TAM