FIGURE 2.

Effects of FGF2 and VEGF on NOS3 promoter trans-activation potential; role of AP-1 and CRE sites. A, deletion analyses. Cells were transfected with luciferase reporter constructs driven by the wild-type sheep NOS3 promoter (−1283/+22) or its deletions. B, site-directed mutagenesis study. Cells were transfected with the luciferase reporter construct driven by the 1305-bp NOS3 promoter of either wild type (WT) or of mutations in the AP-1, CRE, or both sites. In both panels, cells were also co-transfected with a thymidine kinase-Renilla luciferase vector as internal control. After treatment with FGF2 or VEGF (10 ng/ml) for an additional 24 h, trans-activation of NOS3 promoter was measured. Quantitative data are expressed as mean ± S.E. (error bars) (n = 3) of the ratio of firefly/Renilla luciferase activities from three independent experiments. *, p < 0.05 versus untreated control.