Fig. 5.

Cyclic strain enhances GSK-3β phosphorylation. a The effect of 10% cyclic strain for 24 h on rat vSMC (a) cell number and apoptosis. The baseline `static' level of apoptosis was 4 ± 1%, n = 6. b Representative immunocytochemical staining and QRT-PCR of GSK-3β mRNA levels following exposure to 10% cyclic strain for 24 h. c Representative western blot analysis of pGSK-3β Ser9 and Tyr216 levels following exposure to 10% cyclic strain for 24 h. d Representative western blot analysis of the effect of 10% cyclic strain on pGSK-3β activity after 30 min in the absence or presence of inhibitors of phospho-p44/42 and phospho-p38, respectively. e , f Representative western blot analysis and cumulative data of the effect of cyclic strain on phospho-p44/42 and phosphop38 activity after 30 min following inhibition of GSK-3β with SB-216763 (25 μM). The cumulative data represents the mean values from three independent experiments ± SEM, *p < 0.05 versus static control