Figure 8.

SERCA2a gene transfer increases eNOS activity and cGMP production in HCAEC. (a) Assessment of eNOS activity in HCAEC by arginine–citrulline conversion assay. Control and infected Ad-S2a or Ad-βgal cells were treated with histamine (1 µmol/l, 10 min) and pretreated with or without -NAME (1 mmol/l) for 20 minutes. The data are mean ± SEM for four experiments (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus control). (b) cGMP production was measured using immunoassay. The values were normalized to the total protein content and were expressed as a percentage of the value obtained for the control βgal in the same experiment. The data are mean ± SEM for three experiments (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus control). eNOS, endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase; HCAEC, human coronary artery endothelial cell; SERCA2a, sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase 2a.