Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 3 pp 830—845

Figure 1. The influence of exogenously administered TGF-β1 on vascular calcification during the mature phase. TGF-β1 exhibited a dose-dependent increase in calcification regardless of OM exposure across ASMC of different species. (A) Gross (upper row) and microscopic (lower row) view of ASMCs treated with OM, AR-stained (B) Calcium quantitation results of ASMCs without or with different TGF-β1 concentrations or OM treatment. (C) Gross and (D) microscopic view of ASMCs treated without or with TGF-β1 alone, OM alone, or in combination, AR-stained. (E) Calcium quantitation results of ASMCs without or with TGF-β1 alone, OM alone, or in combination. (F) Human ASMCs without OM and with different concentrations of TGF-β1, stained with AR. Quantitative results are shown in panel (G). (H) Human ASMCs with OM co-treated with different concentrations of TGF-β1, stained with AR. Quantitative results are shown in panel (I). AR, Alizarin red; ASMC, aortic smooth muscle cell; ctrl, control; OM, osteogenic media; TGF-β1, transforming growth factor-β1.