Figure 1. Impaired Notch signaling decreases VEGF secretion in wild type astrocytes and in astrocytes lacking functional βA3/A1-crystallin.

(a). VEGF quantikine ELISA to detect levels of VEGF secreted into the medium showed significant reduction (~85%) in Nuc1 cells compared to WT cells. (b). Treatment with DAPT significantly reduced secreted levels of VEGF in both WT (~60%) and Nuc1 (~75%) astrocytes compared to the respective vehicle-treated controls (c). Adenoviral Cre-recombinase mediated knockdown of Cryba1 in Cryba1^fl/fl mouse astrocytes (Cryba1 KD) produced a 65% reduction in secretory VEGF and Cryba1^fl/fl control astrocytes showed ~55% reduction in VEGF level compared to vehicle-treated cells. (d). qRT-PCR analysis revealed ~70% reduction in the levels of VEGFR2 in Nuc1 astrocytes compared to the WT cells. e. Expression of NRP1 was reduced by ~80% in Nuc1 astrocytes compared to WT cells. Error bars indicate s.d.; *P<0.05.