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. 2020 Apr 6;10(12):5276–5289. doi: 10.7150/thno.42470

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Nicotine triggers endothelial to mesenchymal transition (EndMT) through α7 nicotine acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR). (A) The relative mRNA levels of 16 nAChR subunits (α1-α7, α9-α10, β1-β4, δ, γ and ɛ) were measured by RT-PCR and normalized to α3 nAChR in human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). n = 5. (B) The mRNA levels of different EndMT-related markers and stem cell markers were determined by RT-PCR. +α-BTX indicates the co-application of α-BTX with nicotine. n = 5. (C) Protein levels of different EndMT-related markers were determined by western blot. +α-BTX indicates the co-application of α-BTX with nicotine. n = 4. (D-G) Representative images of immunofluorescence staining for EndMT-related markers in HAECs. The nuclei were stained blue with DAPI. +α-BTX indicates the co-application of α-BTX with nicotine. Scale bar indicates 50 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.