Fig. 1.

Activation of Notch3 signaling by cyclic stretch. Cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) were exposed to cyclic uniaxial stretch (10%, 1 Hz) for up to 3 h, and the expression levels of Notch3 extracellular domain (NECD), Notch3 predominantly intracellular component (PIC), hairy and enhancer of split-1 (Hes1; A), and hairy-related transcription factor-1 (HRT1; B), and β-actin were determined by Western blot. siRNA, small interfering RNA; siCtrl, control siRNA; siNotch3, Notch3 siRNA. Data are expressed as percent changes in protein level from 0 h (normalized to β-actin) and are presented as means ± SE; n = 5 (A) or 3 (B). Statistically significant differences from time 0 (**P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001) are indicated.