Figure 6.

Decreased apoptosis of PKCδ^–/– SMCs (a). SMCs were treated with UV (10 J/m²) and incubated for 7 hours; with TNF-α and IL-1β (50 ng/ml of each) for 36 hours; or with IL-1β and IFN-γ (50 ng/ml) or H₂O₂ (100 μm) for 36 hours. Then they were harvested and stained with annexin V–FITC and propidium iodide. Each panel represents an example of three independent experiments, and data on squares are means ± SD, *P < 0.05. (b) Western blot analysis. SMCs were treated with UV (10 J/m²), TNF-α (50 ng/ml), or H₂O₂ (100 μm) for 20 hours. Mitochondrial and cytosolic proteins were separately extracted and used for determining cytochrome c release (middle panel). Protein extracts from whole SMCs were used for analysis of PKCδ, cleaved caspase-3, PARP, and cytochrome c (lower panel). Data represent results of three similar experiments. Ctl, control. (c) SMCs were exposed to UV (10 J/m²) incubated for 7 hours or cytokines for 36 hours and analyzed with FACS after staining with JC-1. Red color represents mitochondria with high Δψ green color indicates low Δψ, and yellow is an intermediate phase. Note that both cell types coexist, but they differ in distribution.