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Fig. 2 Upregulation of MFNG in TGFβ2-induced EndMT. a The transition of HUVECs from their typical cobblestone-like shape to spindle-like cells with protrusions after 48 h of exposure to 10 ng/ml TGFβ2 was visualized under a light microscope (upper). F-actin staining with phalloidin revealed elongated HUVECs with protrusions. Scale bars = 25 µm. b qRT-PCR analysis was used to estimate the relative mRNA levels of MFNG, α-SMA, VIMENTIN, SLUG, and CD31 in HUVECs. GAPDH was employed as a loading control. c Western blot displayed the alterations in protein levels of EndMT-specific markers and MFNG following a 48-h treatment with 10 ng/ml TGFβ2. β-actin was used as a loading control. The band density of MFNG, CD31, SLUG, VIMENTIN, and α-SMA on the Western blot was quantified using ImageJ software. d Cellular immunofluorescence demonstrated a significant upregulation of MFNG expression in HUVECs after TGFβ2 treatment. Scale bars = 25 µm. All data reported here were obtained from three independently repeated biological experiments