Desquamated Epithelial Cells of Unstimulated Human Whole Saliva Express Both EGF Transcript and Protein

Figure 4

DOECs contain EGF protein as shown by ELISA analysis. (a, b) EGF protein concentration was investigated in DOECs and human keratinocyte HaCaT cell lysates with ELISA and expressed as pg/10⁶ cells (a) or pg/mg total protein (b). (c) EGF concentration (pg/mg total protein) determined in unstimulated whole saliva and DOECs using ELISA. Each sample was analyzed in duplicate. Values are presented as means ± SEM for 4 (number of individuals) or 6 (number of wells with HaCaT cells) observations in each group. Statistical significance was calculated by Student’s two-tailed t test for single comparisons between the two groups (DOECs vs. HaCaT cells and whole saliva vs. DOECs) as appropriate. represents , and represents .

(a)

(b)

(c)