Fig. 2.

Effects of cyclic stretch on the protein and mRNA levels of ER stress markers in rat AF cells. a Representative western blots for CHOP, GRP78, and caspase-12 in rat AF cells subjected to cyclic stretch by 20% elongation for 12, 24, 36, or 48 h. b Quantitative analysis of CHOP, GRP78, and caspase-12 protein levels. The values from treated cells have been normalized to values in static control cells (n = 5). ^#P < 0.05 vs. control; P < 0.05 vs. control; *P < 0.05 vs. control. c The mRNA expression of CHOP, GRP78, and caspase-12 by RT-PCR in rat AF cells subjected to cyclic stretch for 12, 24, 36, or 48 h. The values from treated cells have been normalized to GAPDH measurement and then expressed as a ratio of normalized values to mRNA in control cells (n = 5). ^#P < 0.05 vs. control; P < 0.05 vs. control; **P < 0.01 vs. control