Fig. 3.

II homozygous cells are more responsive to unidirectional laminar shear stress (LSS) in the induction of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene expression. A: both p50 and p65 NF-κB subunits are gradually translocated under unidirectional LSS in HUVECs. Primary cultured HUVECs were subjected to unidirectional LSS, and levels of p50 and p65 proteins were measured in nuclear extracts by Western blot analysis. B and C: genotyped HUVECs for NFKB1 I/D polymorphism were used for the experiments. HUVECs were subjected to unidirectinal LSS (15 dyn/cm²) for 24 h using a cone-plate apparatus, and NOS3 protein levels were measured in total extracts. B: example of the immunoblot assay performed for NOS3 protein levels in static or 24-h LSS-stimulated II or DD genotyped HUVECs. C: summary of the statistical analysis (n = 6) for NOS3 protein levels expressed as fold increases over II homozygote cells under static conditions. All protein levels were adjusted to actin protein levels. Values are means ± SE. *P < 0.05 vs. the DD change value.