Fig. 1

Ang II stimulates NCL expression and activates PKC/MAPK to induce VSMC phenotype switching. A. Morphology of isolated VSMCs. Scale bar = 100 µM. B. IF assay for detecting α-SMA expression. Scale bar = 25 µM. C. RT-qPCR and WB analysis of NCL expression in VSMCs without and with Ang II treatment. D. WB analysis of AT1R, p-p38MAPK/p38MAPK, p-JNK/JNK, p-ERK/ERK, and p-PKCα/PKCα expression in VSMCs without and with Ang II treatment. *p < 0.05 vs. Control. E. WB analysis of α-SMA, SM22α, and OPN expression in VSMCs. F-G. IF assay for detecting α-SMA and OPN expression in VSMCs. VSMCs were treated with Ang II and valsartan, LY317615, SP600125 or SB203580, respectively. Scale bar = 25 µM. *p < 0.05 vs. Control, #p < 0.05 vs. Ang II. n = 3