Fig. 4

The role of C5aR in C5a-induced EMT in RPE cells. Primary mouse RPE cells were treated for 96 h with recombinant C5a (50 ng/mL) with or without C5aR antagonist PMX53 (50 nM). Changes in fibronectin (FN) expression were determined by Western blot (A) and confirmed by immunofluorescence (B). C, Representative Western blot images and densitometry analysis of αSMA and E-cadherin (E-cad) protein expression in control, C5a and C5a + PMX53-treated RPE cells. Means ± SEM from 2 independent experiments (2 ~ 3 batches of RPE/experiment). n = 4–6. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison tests