Figure 5.

Expression of SMC differentiation markers in pulmonary arteries. Frozen pieces of main pulmonary artery were homogenized, lysed, 100 μg of protein samples were submitted to SDS-PAGE and electroblotted. Immunodetection of α-SMA (A), desmin (B) and β-actin (A, B) was carried out by Western blotting using specific antibodies. Protein molecular mass was estimated in kDa using standard markers. Protein expression was quantified by Western blotting densitometry. Results are expressed as the ratio of the band volume of α-SMA or desmin to that of β-actin. Donors (n = 6), CTEPH (n = 5) and PH (n = 6). PH group: circle, PAH; triangle, non PAH-PH. (A) ANOVA, p = 0.003; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. (B) ANOVA, p = 0.002; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.