SB431542 maintained the functions and suppressed the fibroblastic change of HCECs.

<p>(A+B) Blocking the TGF-receptor signaling by SB431542 (A: 1 μM, B: 0.1, 1, and 10 μM) enabled the subcellular localization of Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase and ZO-1 at the plasma membrane and their protein expression to be maintained. Scale bar: 100 μm. (C) ELISA assay revealed that SB431542 significantly downregulated the secretion of type I collagen to the culture supernatant. **P<0.05. (D+E) Quantitative PCR showed that SB431542 significantly reduced the expression of type I collagen and fibronectin at the mRNA level. *<i>p</i><0.01, ** <i>p</i><0.05. Samples were prepared in duplicate. Immunoblotting, ELISA, and quantitative PCR were performed in duplicate.