Fig. 1.

Carvedilol (Carv) activates p-AKT signaling and the expression of stem cell markers in injured HL-1 cells. HL-1 cells were treated with either vehicle (DMSO; control) or 1 μM Carv for 1 or 4 h and subjected to either normoxia (basal) or simulated ischemia/reperfusion (sI/R). Immunoblotting with antibodies for p-AKT and t-AKT (A–C) or real-time qRT-PCR for Sox2 and Nanog (D–F) was then performed. As indicated, Carv induces an increase in p-AKT levels in both normoxia (B) and sI/R (C), whereas Carv elicits upregulation of pluripotent stem cell markers (Sox2 and Nanog) only in sI/R (E and F). *P < 0.05 vs. normoxia or control (DMSO); **P < 0.01 vs. control (DMSO); ***P < 0.001 vs. normoxia; n = 4–6.