Figure 5.

Immunofluorescence analysis of the pulmonary arteries at 4 weeks. (a) In male rats, SMemb, the embryonic form of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain and a marker for dedifferentiated SMCs, was increased within the pulmonary arteries, indicating SU-induced SMC-phenotype switch. (b) In contrast, confocal immunofluorescence revealed differentiated SMC-phenotype in female pulmonary arteries. (Blue: nucleus staining with DAPI; green: smooth-muscle-heavy-chain (SM heavy chain); pink: embryonic smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMemb); scale bars represent 33 μm).