Figure 3.

Effects of sorafenib on aortic contractility and regulators of Rho kinase in BDL rats. (A) Contractility of isolated aortic rings to the α₁-adrenoceptor agonist methoxamine. All vessels were incubated with the NOS inhibitor L-NAME 30 min before and during the entire measurements. Concentration response curves are shown in the right panel and the EC₅₀ values in the left panel. Data are means ± SEM from experiments with eight sham-operated rats, seven BDL rats and eight sorafenib-treated BDL rats. #P < 0.05 for BDL versus BDL + sorafenib. (B) Effect of sorafenib on aortic mRNA and protein expression of β-arrestin 2 in BDL rats. Results from all experiments for mRNA expression (n = 5 for each group), and representative Western blots and densitometric quantification of all experiments for protein expression (n = 8 for each group) are shown. BDL, bile duct ligation; L-NAME, Nω-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester; mRNA, messenger RNA; NOS, nitric oxide synthase.