Fig. 4. circHECTD1 mediates the SiO₂-induced EndMT.

a Representative western blot showing the effect of specific knockdown of circHECTD1 with siRNAs on SiO₂-induced changes in endothelial and mesenchymal marker expression. The small pane shows the efficacy of circHECTD1-siRNA in reducing circHECTD1 expression. *P < 0.05 vs. the control group, n = 5. b Densitometric analyses of five separate experiments suggest that the SiO₂-induced changes in the levels of endothelial and mesenchymal markers were attenuated by the circHECTD1-siRNA. *P < 0.05 vs. the level of the corresponding protein in the control group; #P < 0.05 vs. the level of the corresponding protein in the SiO₂ group. c Representative images of immunocytochemical staining show that SiO₂-induced α-SMA/Acta2 expression was attenuated by circHECTD1-siRNA