Figure 4.

SMC‐MAC cross talk in high glucose conditions induces a significant increased level of MCP‐1 released in the conditioned medium, both in SMC (A) and MAC (B). The MCP‐1 released by macrophages was quantified in the conditioned media collected from the upper insert (of trans‐well system), while the MCP‐1 released from SMC was quantified in the conditioned media collected from the bottom chamber. As controls, MCP‐1 was quantified in the conditioned media collected from macrophages or SMC grown independently (no co‐culture) in normal or high glucose conditions. Note that consequent to the cell co‐culture, MCP‐1 is significantly released by SMC after cross‐talk with MAC in HG vs NG conditions (A). n = 4, *P < .05, ^# P < .05, ^### P < .001