Figure 4.

Effects of emodin on tonic tension, MLC phosphorylation, MYPT1 phosphorylation and CPI-17 phosphorylation in aortic rings without endothelium. (A) After aortic rings without endothelium were precontracted with phenylephrine (10⁻⁵ M, 15 min), they were treated with emodin (10 μM) and the change in contractility was measured after 2 h. After aortic rings without endothelium were treated with emodin (10 μM) for 2 h, aortic rings were stimulated with phenylephrine (10⁻⁵ M) for 2 min, and protein was extracted from aortic tissues. (B) MLC phosphorylation, (C) MYPT1 phosphorylation and (D) CPI-17 phosphorylation were determined by Western blotting. Values are mean ± SEM of three to four independent experiments. *Represents significant difference from control (Student's t-test, P < 0.05).