Effects of ex vivo mechanical tension on miR‐133a levels in thoracic aortic rings. Descending aortas from wild‐type C57BL/6 mice were transversely cut into 3‐mm rings and suspended in a tissue myograph on parallel wires in oxygenated Krebs‐Henseleit solution. A, miR‐133a abundance in aortic rings held at 0.7 g (normotension; Control, n=7) or with 1.5 g applied tension (Tension, n=7) for 3 hours. B, Peak‐developed tension (grams) in aortic rings held at normotension (0.7 g) in the absence (Control, n=8) or presence of 100 nmol/L angiotensin II (AngII, n=8) for 3 hours. C, Effect of developed tension on miR‐133a abundance in aortic rings held at normotension (0.7 g) in the absence (Control, n=8) or presence of 100 nmol/L AngII (AngII, n=8). A through C, Data are represented in dot plots with the mean and SEM shown next to each group. Comparisons were made using a 2‐sample t test (unpaired, 2 tailed). *P<0.05 vs control.