Figure 7

TWEAK induces mRNA expression of transcriptional repressors ZEB1 and ZEB2. Confluent monolayers of BEAS-2B cells were cultured for the indicated time points in the absence (control) or presence of TGF-β1 (10 ng/ml), TNF-α (10 ng/ml), TWEAK (100 ng/ml), or TGF-β1 in combination with TNF-α or TWEAK. The levels of Snail (A), Slug (B), TWIST (C), ZEB1 (D), and ZEB2 (E) mRNAs were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Expression levels were normalized to the housekeeping gene GAPDH and calculated as fold induction in comparison to 0 h. Data represent the means ± SD of three independent experiments. ^* p < 0.05 compared with 0 h. ^† p < 0.05 compared with TGF-β1 alone.