Fig. 1. Protein expression of CTSD in activated fibroblasts. (A) hTERT-hNOFs were applied with CM from HEK and YD10B cells. HEK and YD10B cells were grown in serum-free media comprising DMEM and F12 at a 9:1 ratio for 48 hours. The bar graph quantifies each band intensity (Image J software); the CTSD protein expression was normalized to b-Actin. (B) Fibroblasts were lysed with or without TGF-b 10 ng/ml for 24 hours in serum-free medium, and the protein samples were loaded. Empty vector: pcDNA4/HisMaxB mammalian expression vector transfected hTERT-hNOFs. WT-YAP1: pcDNA4/HisMaxB-WT YAP1 transfected hTERT-hNOFs. YAPS127A: pcDNA4/ HisMaxB-YAPS127A transfected hTERT-hNOFs. CTSD: Cathepsin D, hTERT-hNOFs: immortalized human normal oral fibroblasts, CM: conditioned medium, HEK: human epidermal keratinocyte, DMEM: Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium, TGF-b: transforming growth factor-b, WT: wild-type, YAP: Yes-associated protein, YAPS127A: YAP serine 127 to alanine.