Figure 4.

Effect of the α3‐nAChR antagonist α‐conotoxin MII on the inflammatory response in MAECs. (A) Expressions of the subunits of nAChRs in MAECs (relative to β‐actin). (B–G) The LPS (5 ng·mL⁻¹)‐stimulated secretions of the inflammatory cytokines from MAECs in the absence or presence of α‐conotoxin MII (MII, 0.1 μmol·L⁻¹, an α3‐nAChR antagonist), α‐conotoxin PIA (PIA, 0.1 μmol·L⁻¹, an α6‐nAChR antagonist), α‐conotoxin RgIA (RgIA, 0.5 μmol·L⁻¹, an α9‐nAChR antagonist), or LY294002 (1 μmol·L⁻¹, a selective PI3K inhibitor). (H–O) The protein expressions of PECAM‐1, COX‐2, iNOS, eNOS and the p‐eNOS (Ser¹¹⁷⁷) after MAECs were stimulated with LPS in the absence or presence of MII or after cells were knocked down with the gene of α3‐nAChRs. Siα3: small interfering RNA targeting the α3‐nAChR gene. Values are means ± SEM. Data were obtained from six separate experiments (n = 6). Significance of the difference between groups is indicated as follows: ^* P < 0.05; ^** P < 0.01.