Figure 3.

Effects of melatonin on Sestrin2 and C/EBPβ in VSMCs. Levels of (A) C/EBPβ and (B) Sestrin2 mRNAs in primary rat VSMCs treated with or without 2 mM melatonin. (C-E) Primary rat VSMCs transfected with scrambled siRNA or siRNA targeting C/EBPβ (siC/EBPβ) for 24 h were serum-starved for 24 h, and then incubated with 10% FBS with or without 2 mM melatonin. Levels of (C) C/EBPβ and (D) Sestrin2 mRNA and (E) C/EBPβ and Sestrin2 protein in VSMCs treated with or without 2 mM melatonin. Data were normalized to the 36B4 mRNA level, and expressed as the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. ^**P<0.01; ^***P<0.001. n.s., not significant; VSMC, vascular smooth muscle cell; siRNA, small interfering RNA.