Figure 3

The connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) promoter is active in myofibroblasts. Skin of CTGF/enhanced green fluorescent protein (E-GFP) hemizygous mice (post-wounding, day 3) was fixed, sectioned, and stained with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) to detect nuclei, anti-α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) antibody to detect myofibroblasts, and anti-GFP antibody to detect CTGF promoter activity (40 × magnification of dermal tissue). The percentage of fibroblasts within the wound that were α-SMA positive, GFP positive, and both GFP and α-SMA positive was calculated as described in Methods. Note that ~75% of the cells in the wound area were myofibroblasts that expressed GFP. Representative data from four wounds from four separate animals per timepoint is shown.