Fig. 4

PG expression does not significantly alter cellular adhesion to fibronectin. Cell adhesion assays using cellular fibronectin (cFn) or tissue culture plastic (TCPO) served as a substrate for normal fibroblasts. The cells seeded on cFn had a 6-fold increase in adherence compared to TCPO (p < 0.0001 ) (a). To ensure cFN has been serving as a proper adhesion substrate, untreated normal cells were treated with an RGD peptide to block the adhesive properties of cFn. Those cells treated with the peptide had 4.5 fold less adhesion compared to the cFN only cells (p < 0.02) (b). Normal (n = 17) or IPF cells (n = 14) transfected with either Φ-siRNA or siRNA-PG and placed on the cFn substrate showed no difference in adhesive capacity to fibronectin (c)