Figure 6.

Gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) as an indicator of functionality estimated by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). (A) Incubation of rat primary VSMCs for 15 min in the presence of 8Br-cAMP (100 μM) or DADS (50 μM) significantly increased GJIC. Data are mean ± SE from an n = 5–9 for each treatment. Student–Newman–Keuls method for multiple comparisons following one-way ANOVA was used. *p < 0.05 compared with normalized vehicle controls. (B–E) Representative photomicrographs (630×) of confluent VSMCs undergoing FRAP with the targeted cell outlined. (B) Before photobleaching; (C) immediately after photobleaching; (D) 2.5 min after photobleaching; and (E) 4.5 min after photobleaching at the conclusion of fluorescence recovery.