Fig 1: Schematic representation of experimental design for proteomics analysis. Myofibroblasts were induced for 24 h using a cytokine cocktail (TGF-β1, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) before co-culture with ET-eMSCs preconditioned with PGE2 (3 μM) in a transwell system. This setup enabled bidirectional exchange of soluble factors without direct cell contact. Samples were collected at two points: (i) time zero, including the conditioned medium from ET-eMSCs (secretome T0) and total proteins extracts from myofibroblasts (proteome T0), and (ii) after 48 h of co-culture, collecting the PGE2-conditioned medium containing myofibroblast secretions (secretome 48 h) and total protein extracts from myofibroblasts (proteome 48 h). Each sample was analyzed in triplicate. (Figure created with BioRender.com, accessed on 21 August 2024).