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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Feb 8.
Published in final edited form as: Eur Respir J. 2010 Jan 28;36(3):630–637. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00160209

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

Effect of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase inhibition on caldesmon phosphorylation in canine tracheal smooth muscle (TSM) strips. a) Relative caldesmon phosphorylation levels with 3 (n=6), 15 (n=5) and 30 μM (n=6) U0126 (1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis[2-aminophenylthio]butadiene) in comparison to those in TSM strips that received vehicle alone (n=10); and b) representative corresponding western blot of control- and U0126-treated tissues. Caldesmon demonstrated reduced phosphorylation following treatment with 15 and 30 μM U0126 compared to both vehicle-treated and 3-μM strips (p=0.002; ANOVA). c) The change in force-fluctuation-induced relengthening (ΔFFIR; ●) varied inversely with relative caldesmon phosphorylation (□) in strips contracted with acetylcholine in the presence of U0126 (data derived from figures 2 and 4a). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. h-caldesmon: high-molecular-weight caldesmon; Lref: reference length. *: p<0.05 versus no drug treatment; #: versus 0 and 3 μM U0126; : versus 0, 3 and 15 μM U0126.