Depletion of Slug reversed the mesenchymal status of HDLECs. A. Real time PCR assays showed depletion of Slug increased the expression of VE-cadherin and decreased α-SMA, SM22α and Prox1 expressions. B. Western blots revealed the increased VE-cadherin, decreased α-SMA, SM22α and Prox1 expressions in protein levels. C. Immunofluorescence showed decreased α-SMA and Prox1 in HDLECs with depletion of Slug. D. Decreased permeability of HDLECs with depletion of Slug. E. Increased PDGF-BB in HDLECs treated with Slug shRNA. F. HDLECs with depletion of Slug showed enhanced ability of SMCs recruitment. All data are presented as mean ± SE from three different experiments with duplicate. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01 versus NC shRNA group.