FIG. 7.

G6PD knockdown decreased KCl-induced Ca²⁺ entry into CA smooth muscle. (A–D) Ca²⁺ dynamics in the smooth muscle of NT- and G6PD siRNA-treated CAs. KCl (60 mM)-induced Ca²⁺ entry into smooth muscle cells of CA rings transfected with NT- (A, B) or G6PD-siRNA (C, D) was evaluated based on changes in Fluo-4 fluorescence using confocal microscopy. G6PD knockdown suppressed Ca²⁺ entry into CASMCs. (E) G6PD knockdown suppressed KCl (30 mM)-induced increases in global [Ca²⁺]_i (n = 6) measured using Fura 3PE. (F) KCl (30 mM; 20 min)-induced phosphorylation of MYPT1 and MLC (blot is representative of three experiments). G6PD knockdown suppressed contraction of CA rings elicited by KCl (30 mM; n = 5) at the indicated extracellular Ca²⁺ concentrations (G) and by U46619 (100 nM; n = 4) in the absence of extracellular Ca²⁺ (H). MLC, myosin light chain; MYPT1, myosin phosphatase target subunit 1. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article at www.liebertonline.com/ars).