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. 2015 Apr 17;10(4):e0123987. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0123987

Fig 1. High levels of glucose alter VEGF and miR-200b expression in HRMECs.

Fig 1

A: HRMECs exposed to various concentrations of D-glucose for 24 hours exhibited differential mRNA levels of VEGF. Compared to 5mM D-glucose, VEGF expression was significantly increased at 15mM and 25mM D-glucose concentrations, with no change at 20mM L-glucose. B: Measured by WST-1 assay, HRMECs exposed to increasing concentrations of D-glucose for 24 hours exhibited decreased cell viability at 25mM, 50mM and 100mM compared to 5mM. C: HRMECs exposed to 25mM (high glucose; HG) glucose for 24 and 48 hours demonstrated significantly increased VEGF mRNA compared to 5mM (normal glucose; NG). These differences were not observed at time points earlier than 24 hours. D,E: HRMECs exposed to 5mM D-glucose (NG) 25mM D-glucose (HG) and 20mM L-glucose+5mM D-glucose (osmotic control; OSM). HRMECs cultured for 24 hours and 48 hours in HG showed significantly decreased levels of miR-200b with parallel increased levels of VEGF expression compared to NG and OSM. F,G: VEGF is also increased at the protein level in HG compared to NG as measured by Western Blotting. [* p < 0.05 compared to NG; n = 6; data expressed as mean ± SEM, normalized to β-actin or U6 and expressed as a fold change of NG].