{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T15:13:17Z","timestamp":1787497997708,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]],"date-time":"2020-11-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605657600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["17H04351"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["17H04351"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["17K11458"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["17K11458"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study aimed to investigate the effects of substratum stiffness on the sensitivity of human conjunctival fibroblasts to transforming growth factor (TGF)-\u03b2, and to explore the molecular mechanism of action.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Human conjunctival fibroblasts were cultured on collagen-coated plastic or silicone plates. The stiffness of the silicone plates was 0.2 or 64 kPa. Cells were treated by 2.5 ng\/mL TGF-\u03b22 with or without fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 (0\u2013100 ng\/mL) for 24 h or 48 h. The protein expression levels were determined by Western blot analysis. Cell proliferation was assessed using the WST-8 assay.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>FGF-2 suppressed the TGF-\u03b2-induced expression of \u03b1-smooth muscle actin (SMA) and collagen type I (Col I), but not fibronectin (FN). Both FGF-2 and TGF-\u03b22 increased cell proliferation without an additive effect. The induction of \u03b1-SMA by TGF-\u03b22 was decreased on the soft substratum, without any change in the expression level or subcellular location of Yes-associated protein\/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (YAP\/TAZ). FGF-2 suppressed TGF-\u03b2-induced \u03b1-SMA expression even on the soft substratum.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>FGF-2 treatment and a soft substratum suppressed TGF-\u03b2-induced transdifferentiation of conjunctival fibroblasts into myofibroblasts. FGF-2 attenuated the TGF-\u03b2-induced expression of \u03b1-SMA, even on a soft substratum.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0242626","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]],"date-time":"2020-11-18T13:45:39Z","timestamp":1605707139000},"page":"e0242626","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["TGF-\u03b2-induced activation of conjunctival fibroblasts is modulated by FGF-2 and substratum 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