Figure 2.

Silencing of galectin-3 (gal-3) reversed the oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL)-induced phenotypic transformation of human umbilical smooth muscle cells (HUSMCs). HUSMCs were transfected with gal-3-specific small interfering (si)RNA for 24 h, and then cultured with 50 μg/ml oxLDL for 48 h. The mRNA and protein expression levels of gal-3, smooth muscle α-actin (SMA), calponin, and osteopontin (OPN) were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. (A and B) Western blotting and (C) RT-qPCR results of gal-3, calponin, OPN and SMA are shown. (B) The respective densitometric measurement results are given. The protein expression levels of gal-3, calponin, OPN and SMA were normalized to those of GAPDH. Band density of HUSMCs transfected with scramble siRNA was defined as control and set to 1. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. ^*P<0.05, vs. the control. ^#P<0.05, vs. oxLDL.