Figure 4.

Tacrolimus inhibits VEGF-mediated Akt and p38 activation. (A) HUVECs treated or not (CTRL) for 24 h (in 0.05% FBS medium) with BMP9 (10 ng/ml) or tacrolimus (FK-506, 0.3 μM), were stimulated for 5 min with VEGF (25 ng/ml). Cell extracts were analyzed by WB using antibodies directed against the indicated proteins. (B) Densitometric analyses and quantification of the relative levels of the indicated proteins in n = 3 independent experiments, as in (A). Data represent mean ± SEM; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001; one-way ANOVA, Dunnett's and Sidak’s multiple comparisons tests. (C) Schematic illustration of the proposed effect of tacrolimus on ALK1 and VEGFR2 signaling pathways.