Influence of TGFβ and TGFβ inhibitors on morphology and proliferation of NHU cell cultures.

<p>(a) Phase-contrast micrographs of NHU cell cultures at confluence following growth for 6 days in the presence of 0.1% DMSO, TGFβ1 (2 ng/ml) or SB431542 (3 µM). Scale bar: 250 µm. (b) MTT assay showing dose-response curves of viable biomass from non-differentiated (proliferative) NHU cells treated for 4 days with TGFβ1 and TGFβ2. Bars represent mean ± SD of six replicates. (c) NHU cells were treated with the inhibitors SB431542 (10 µM) or PD153035 (1 µM) in the presence or absence of TGFβ1 (2 ng/ml) for 4 days and viable biomass was assessed by MTT assay. Bars represent means ± SD of six replicate wells. Statistical analysis was by means of a 2-tailed t-test, *** = p<0.0001. (d) NHU cells from three independent cell lines (A, B, C) were cultured in the presence or absence of SB431542 (3 µM) for 4 days before growth was assessed by MTT assay. Bars represent means ± SD of six replicate wells.