Association of sGCβ1(1–619) mutants with HSP90 in mammalian cells. Heme-deficient COS-7 cells were transfected to express each sGCβ1(1–619) mutant protein. After 48 h, supernatants (equal protein) were immunoprecipitated with an anti-sGCβ antibody followed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis (IB) with anti-HSP90 and sGCβ antibodies. A, representative Western blotting indicating HSP90 pulled down with WT sGCβ1 and an empty vector as negative control. B, representative Western blotting indicating the HSP90 pulled down with each sGCβ1 protein on the beads. C, densitometric quantification of HSP90 binding, with the values being the mean ± S.D. (error bars) of three independent experiments. The normalized band intensity of each sGC mutants is compared with WT for significance determination. **, p < 0.01; *, 0.01 < p < 0.05.