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. 2014 Jun 26;9(6):e100931. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100931

Figure 5. Cyclic stretch increases Cx43 expression.

Figure 5

HPAECs were grown to confluence on flexible Bioflex plates; subjected to pathological cyclic stretch (18% elongation), physiological cyclic stretch (5% elongation), or static stretch (0% elongation) for 24 hr.; and Cx43 protein or mRNA was measured. A.) 18% cyclic stretch (18% C.S.) is compared to physiological (5%) stretch control (5% C.S.) and static stretch control. A representative Western blot is shown. Cx43 is normalized to β-actin housekeeping protein levels and expressed relative to static stretch. *, p<0.05. n = 7 for 18% stretch and static stretch; n = 5 for 5% stretch. B.) To measure Cx43 mRNA, cells were subjected to 18% cyclic stretch or static stretch control as before and samples were analyzed by qRT-PCR. Cx43 mRNA was normalized to GAPDH housekeeping mRNA. n = 6. *p<0.05.