Figure 3 .

circ-BPTF promotes PASMC proliferation

Human PASMCs were cultured in vitro under hypoxia or normoxia. Specific siRNA was used to knockdown circ-BPTF. An overexpression vector was used for overexpression of circ-BPTF. (A) qPCR analysis of circ-BPTF levels after exposure to hypoxia for different time. (B) Specific siRNA knockdown of circ-BPTF in hypoxia-exposed PASMCs. (C–D) CCK-8 and MTT assays showed that circ-BPTF-specific siRNA suppressed cell proliferation in hypoxia-exposed PASMCs. (E–F) CCK-8 and MTT assays showed that circ-BPTF overexpression promoted PASMC proliferation. (G–H) circ-BPTF overexpression increased the percentage of PCNA-positive cells. (J–K) Immunohistochemistry staining and the TUNEL assay showed that circ-BPTF-specific siRNA suppressed PCNA-positive cells and increased TUNEL-positive cells in hypoxia-exposed PASMCs. ** P<0.01.