Figure 3. 2‐PAA induced the formation of gap junction plaques between hCMEC/D3 cells.

A, representative microscopic images of Cx43 (green) immunofluorescence in hCMEC/D3 cells after 20 μm 2‐PAA treatment for 1 h. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bar represents 50 μm. B, the amount of hCMEC/D3 cells with Cx43 gap junction plaques was significantly increased after 2‐PAA treatment (20 μm) for 1 h compared to the vehicle control (cont., 0.3% ethanol). The results were analysed using Student's t test. ^*Significant differences to the vehicle control: ^* P < 0.05. C, exemplary confocal and STED images with increased resolution of individual Cx43 gap junction plaques. Scale bar represents 5 μm. [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]