Figure 3.

Relative blood pressures of mice with genetically-engineered α2 Na⁺ pumps and NCX1. The data from several sources, are normalized to the BPs of the respective control wild type (WT) mice. Mice with a null mutation in one α2 Na⁺ pump allele (α2^+/-)⁷ or smooth muscle-specific α2 knockdown (α2^SM/DN) (Song, Chen, Kotlikoff and Blaustein, unpublished; see Figure 4 in Supplementary Data), or increased smooth muscle-specific NCX1 overexpression (NCX1^SM/Tg),⁶⁶ had significantly elevated BP. A high salt diet augmented the elevated BP in α2^+/- mice (4% NaCl × 2 weeks) and NCX1^SM/Tg mice (8% NaCl + 1% NaCl in tap water × 4 weeks). Smooth muscle-specific overexpression of α2 Na⁺ pumps (α2^SM/Tg)⁵⁹ or Cre-recombinase knockdown of NCX1 (NCX1^SM-/-)⁷⁰ significantly reduced BP. * = P < 0.05, ** = P < 0.01 vs WT or the respective genotypes on a normal (0.5%) salt diet.