Fig. 2

Effects of MT-7117 on skin fibrosis in the pre-established BLM-induced SSc model—therapeutic evaluation. BLM was injected into the back skin of mice every other day for 6 weeks. During the last 3 weeks of the experimental period, the mice received oral administration of MT-7117, imatinib, or vehicle once daily. Skin samples were obtained on day 43 and embedded in paraffin. A Experimental schedule. B Skin thickness was determined by measuring the thickness of HE-stained skin. C α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA, encoded by Acta2) staining was performed using paraffin-embedded skin. The numbers of αSMA-positive myofibroblasts in a specific area of skin were determined. D Representative image of Masson’s trichrome staining of dorsal skin in each group. B, C Each column represents the mean ± SEM (n = 8). ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 for group 3 vs. group 1 and group 3 vs. group 6 using Wilcoxon test (two-sided), *p < 0.025, **p < 0.005 for group 3 vs. group 4 and 5 using Shirley–Williams’ test (one-sided)