Fig. 3.

Hyperlipemia increases Id3 expression, VSMC growth, and S-phase entry. Porcine VSMC were plated in equal densities, quiesced for 48 h and stimulated with media containing either hyperlipemic or normolipemic sera. Normolipemic animals had serum cholesterol levels of 65–105 mg/ dl. Hyperlipemic animals had cholesterol levels of 287–450 mg/dl. a Forty-eight hours after stimulation, equal amounts of protein were analyzed for Id3 expression by Western blotting. The blot was stripped and reprobed with an anti-tubulin antibody to control for protein loading. b VSMC stimulated with hyperlipemic sera grew faster at all time points relative to normolipemic sera (* p = 0.008 at 24 h, ^† p = 0.01 at 48 h). c Eighteen hours after stimulation, cells were stained with PI and analyzed for cell cycle components. VSMC stimulated with hyperlipemic sera had significantly greater S-phase entry relative to normolipemic sera (* p = 0.016). Results are the average of three experiments performed in triplicate utilizing sera from 7 animals from each group.