Figure 3.

Irradiation Affects miR-29b, miR-146b, and Target Gene Expression In Vitro; Pathological Changes Are Partly Corrigible With miRNA Mimics

(A) In human carotid artery smooth muscle cells (HCtASMCs), 2 × 2 Gy of irradiation resulted in significantly reduced miR-29b expression; miR-146b expression was not affected. ∗p < 0.05. (B) The opposite was observed with human carotid artery endothelial cells (HCtAECs). ∗p < 0.05. (C) miR-29b target gene expression in HCtASMCs after irradiation. n = 6 in each group. Mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 in Student’s t-test. (D) Western blot analysis showed an increase in PTX3 protein expression after irradiation. (E) Treatment with miR-29b mimics resulted in undetectable soluble collagen in supernatant from radiated HCtASMCs but not from control HCtASMCs. ∗∗p < 0.01; ∗∗∗p < 0.001; ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001. (F) miR-29b mimic treatment reduced PTX3 expression in HCtASMCs. n = 6 in each group. Mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001 in 1-way analysis of variance. DPP4 gene expression remained unchanged but was reduced on the protein level as shown with (G) Western blotting of HCtASMCs. Other abbreviations as in Figure 1.