Fig. 5

IL-11 and soluble IL-11Rα induce human pulmonary artery endothelial cell (HPAEC) to mesenchymal transition (EnMT) and human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (HPASMC) to myofibroblast-like transition. A HPAEC and B HPASMC were isolated from control donor subjects and stimulated with rhIL-11 5 ng/ml, rhIL-11Rα 10 ng/ml or their combination during 48 h replacing culture medium and stimulus each 24 h. Experiments were done between passages 2–3. Gene mRNA transcripts of different genes measured by quantitative PCR (qPCR) as 2^−ΔCt. Protein expression levels were analysed by western blotting. Data are shown as the ratio compared to β-actin for protein. Data are presented as scatter dot blot with median and interquartile range values (for primary cells, n = 4 control subjects performed in triplicate). P-values are based on the Mann Whitney test (two groups) or the Kruskal–Wallis test and Dunn’s post-hoc test for multiple comparison