Figure 1.

CB₁ and CB₂ receptors expression in HCASMCs. (a) Expression of CB₁ and CB₂ receptors in HCASMCs demonstrated by immunofluorescence staining. CB₁ and CB₂ expression in the vascular smooth muscle cells was detected using rabbit-polyclonal anti-CB₁ and -CB₂ antibodies (Cayman Chemicals) and using secondary antibody goat-anti-rabbit FITC (Pierce), the nucleus was contrastained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI, Molecular Probes, Invitrogen). (b, c) RT-PCR analysis of CB1/2 receptor expression in human endothelial and smooth muscle cells. (d, e) Western immunoblot demonstrating expression of CB₁ and CB₂ receptors in HCASMCs. Here, representative images from three independent experiments with identical results are shown.