Fig 5. Simvastatin restores endothelial barrier function on stiff matrices.

Endothelial monolayer permeability is attenuated with simvastatin treatment. (A) Schematic drawing of the in vitro permeability system where the flux of a 40-kDa FITC-dextran across an endothelial monolayer into the underlying polyacrylamide gel is measured. (B) Representative experimental X-Z image illustrating the fluorescent FITC-dextran solution, the endothelial monolayer, and the polyacrylamide gel. (C) Endothelium permeability increases with increasing substrate stiffness, but is significantly reduced with 1 μM simvastatin at the 10 kPa stiffness level (n = 2, 7–10 monolayers per condition). (D) Endothelial permeability on 10 kPa gels increases with the agonist thrombin (n = 4, 6–10 monolayers per condition). Data are presented as means ± standard error of the mean,*p<0.05, **p<0.01.