Fig. 1.

Endothelial cells decrease apolipoprotein D (APOD) expression in mural cells. Endothelial cells [human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)] and fibroblasts [human dermal neonatal fibroblasts (HDFN)] were cultured alone or cocultured with each other. After 48 h, cocultured cells were separated using anti-platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM1)-conjugated Dynabeads for RNA expression analysis using quantitative (q)PCR (A). APOD protein quantification was performed using ELISA (B). HDFN, human aortic smooth muscle cells (HAoSMCs), and human coronary artery smooth muscle cells (HCASMCs) were cultured in the presence or absence of HUVECs for 48 h, separated, and subjected to qPCR analysis for APOD transcript expression (C). APOD protein expression was determined by ELISA (D). *P < 0.05.