Figure 3

Effect of cCAF on FN levels in culture. Embryonic connective tissue fibroblasts immunolabeled for FN. (A) Untreated 3 day-old cultures show FN fibers over the cells. (B) Cultures treated with cCAF for 3 days show more fibers, and the staining is more intense than those in the controls. (C,D) Cells treated with the same amounts of N-peptide or C-peptide have levels of FN similar to control. (E) Immunoblot analysis of cells treated with cCAF show higher levels of FN than untreated or peptide-treated cells. All lanes contain equal amounts of total protein, as measured by the DC protein assay (BioRad). (F) Northern blot analysis for FN shows no difference in mRNA levels between control and cells treated with cCAF for times up to 48 hours.