FIGURE 5.

Oestrous cycle‐dependent reduction in K_V7.4 subcellular distribution in mesenteric and renal artery myocytes. Representativeimages of immunocytochemistry demonstrate K_V7.4 expression (red) within renal (RA)and mesenteric (MA; a) artery vascularsmooth muscle cells from female di‐oestrus/met‐oestrus (D/M) and female pro‐oestrus/oestrus (P/E) Wistar rats. Plasma membraneand nuclear markers, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA; green) and 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole (DAPI; blue), respectively, are alsoshown. Fluorescence intensity profiles were plotted for K_V7.4 and WGA measured in arbitrary units (A.U.) along the yellow line seenin the merged image above (b). Fluorescence intensity ≥ 200 A.U. was considered as the plasma membrane (M), and below the threshold was considered as the cytosol (C; b). The membrane:cytosol ratio for K_V7.4 expression was calculated by measuring thefluorescence intensity of K_V7.4 within the membrane and dividing it by the fluorescence intensity of K_V7.4 within cytosol from threerandomly drawn lines. Data shown are scatterplots for membrane:cytoplasm ratio (c)and total fluorescence (d)from 8‐12 individualcells isolated from 3rats. Different colours represent different animals. The mean ± SEM are included in theplot.