Fig. 1.

Lovastatin induces vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) differentiation. A: human VSMC were cultured with ethanol vehicle (left) or 5 μM lovastatin (Statin; right) for 48 h and subjected to immunohistochemical staining with an anti-calponin primary antibody and FITC-conjugated secondary antibody. Duplicate slides representative of 3 experiments are shown. Magnification, ×40. B: lovastatin induces VSMC differentiation in a dose-dependent manner. Human iliac artery VSMC were cultured in the presence of vehicle (0) or the indicated dose of lovastatin for 8 h. Equal amounts of protein (as determined by Bradford analysis) were loaded and analyzed by immunoblotting using antibodies against smooth muscle (SM) α-actin, calponin, SM2-myosin heavy chain (SM-MHC2), or ribosomal S6 phosphorylated at Ser240/244 (pS6) as indicated. C: lovastatin induces VSMC contractile proteins long term. Human coronary VSMC were cultured in the presence of vehicle (control) or lovastatin (5 μM) for 48 h. Equal amounts of protein were loaded and analyzed by immunoblotting using antibodies against SM α-actin, calponin, h-caldesmon, and SM2-MHC as indicated. β-Tubulin was used for loading control.