Variable expression of cystatin C in cultured trans-differentiating rat hepatic stellate cells

Figure 4 Effect of rhCysC on TGF-β1 binding to beta-glycan. Cultured HSCs were incubated for 1 h with or without rhCysC or an antibody specific for the extracellular domain of beta-glycan followed by the application of [¹²⁵I]-TGF-β1. The ligand was chemically cross-linked to the receptor and subsequently TβRIII was immunoprecipitated, separated by SDS-PAGE, and visualized by autoradiography. Control experiments including a 200-fold excess of unlabeled TGF-β1 showed no receptor labeling (data not shown).