Fig. 3

Pirfenidone (PFD) alleviated the damage of TGF-β1 to human fetal lung fibroblasts (HLFs). a, b Western blot (WB) and (c) quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays were used to measure the mRNA expression levels of β-catenin in HLFs after transfection with negative control (NC) or β-catenin vevtor, and untreated cells acted as controls. In following diagrams, HLFs were divided into control, TGF-β1, PFD + TGF-β1, PFD + TGF-β1 + NC and PFD + TGF-β1 + β-catenin groups. d The methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was performed to determine the viability of HLFs after treatment for 24 and 48 h. The mRNA and protein levels of collagen (Col)-I, Col-III, α-SMA and fibronectin in HLFs were determined by (e) qRT-PCR and (f, g) WB assays. ^{^^^}P < 0.001, vs. NC; ^***P < 0.001, vs. control; ^&&&P < 0.001, vs. TGF-β1; ^###P < 0.001, vs. PFD + TGF-β1 + NC. N = 3