Skip to main content
. 2006 Feb;168(2):629–638. doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2006.050284

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Relaxations to acetylcholine (A) and the NO donor S-nitrosopenicillamine (B) in ring preparations of rat carotid arteries maintained in vessel culture (for 24 hours) in the absence and presence of recombinant BMP-2 (20 or 200 ng/ml). Data are mean ± SEM (n = 4 to 6 for each group). *P < 0.05. C: Compared to the untreated controls (left), BMP-2 elicited significant increases in endothelial O2.− production, as indicated by the intensive red fluorescent staining of the endothelial nuclei by ethidium bromide (right). Green autofluorescence is shown for orientation purposes (L, lumen; A, adventitia). D: Demonstration of increased O2.− production in BMP-2-treated cultured carotid arteries using lucigenin chemiluminescence (mean ± SEM, n = 5 for each group; *P < 0.05 versus untreated control). E: BMP-2 induced generation of reactive oxygen species in CAECs (assessed by a homovanillic acid/horseradish peroxidase method in the presence of SOD, to convert O2.− to H2O2) in the absence and presence of the NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor DPI and apocynin (APO) or the PKC inhibitor chelerythrine. Results are normalized to the control mean values (n = 5 for each group; *P < 0.05 versus untreated control, #P < 0.05 versus BMP-2 treatment, data are mean ± SEM).