J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2007 Oct;27(10):835-9.

Suppression of alpha smooth muscle actin expression by IFN-gamma in established myofibroblast cell lines.

Tanaka K, Sano K, Nakano T, Yuba K, Kinoshita M.

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Osaka Medical College, Osaka, Japan. reh030@poh.osaka-med.ac.jp

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) on myofibroblast generation using four myofibroblast cell lines that we established from Dupuytren's nodules. Cells were cultured in Earl's medium with 15% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and plated on a microplate at a density of 10(4) cells/well. These cells were treated with various concentrations of IFN-gamma (0-1000 U/mL) for 3 days. By cell-capture enzyme immunoassay (CC-EIA), immunofluorescence staining, and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, we evaluated the effect of IFN-gamma on the expression of alpha smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA) in these cells. CC-EIA and RT-PCR analysis showed that IFN-gamma suppressed alphaSMA expression, and immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated that IFN-gamma markedly decreased the number of alphaSMA-positive cells. These results showed that IFN-gamma strongly inhibits myofibroblast generation in established myofibroblast cell lines and suggest the possibility of using IFN-gamma therapy for contractile disease.

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