CCN2 and systemic sclerosis: The VEGF stimulation significantly increased the CTGF gene expression, both in HC- and SSc-MSCs, and of note, the CTGF mRNA levels of SSc-MSCs were again significantly higher than those observed in HC-MSCs (CTGF mRNA levels: 10.17 (range, 8.46 to 11.87) in SSc-MSCs vs. 6.32 (range, 5.35 to 7.19) levels in HC-MSCs, P <0.0001) (Figure 4A).