Figure 6. Vasodilatation to fibronectin fusion proteins and peptides requires an intact endothelium .

Endothelium (EC)‐denuded vessels (confirmed by the significant decrease in dilatation to ACh, grey bar) do not dilate to local application of FNIII1H,8‐10 or FNIII1H. The ability of EC‐denuded vessels to dilate is confirmed by the unchanged dilatation to SNP (grey bar) compared to EC intact vessels (black bar). Integrin‐binding peptides do not directly activate vascular smooth muscle in these small resistance arterioles as shown by the absence of significant response in EC‐denuded vessels (FNIII1H^RGD and FNIII8–10). *Significantly different from ACh and SNP in intact vessels (black bars); ANOVA, P < 0.05.