Modulating Cellular Responses to IL-27 and TGF-β1

The MRC-5 (human lung fibroblast-derived) cell line was purchased from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Cell Bank and cultured in minimum essential medium (MEM) containing 10% fetal bovine serum, penicillin (100 μg/mL) and streptomycin 100 (μg/mL). The cell lines were placed in a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO₂ at 37 °C. After pretreatment with PD98059 (1 μmol/L, TOCRIS, Bristol, UK), SB203580 (100 nmol/L, TOCRIS, Bristol, UK), or 3-methyladenine (20 mmol/L, 3-MA, Absin, Shanghai, China) for 2 h, MRC-5 cells were exposed to IL-27 (100 ng/mL, eBioscience, California, USA) and/or TGF-β1 (40 ng/mL, eBioscience, CA, USA) for 48 h.