CM collected from PAEC activates PDGFRα in PASMC. (A) Schematic
diagram showing how the CM was collected for Western blot
experiments from cell-free controls and normal PAEC and applied to
normal and IPAH PASMC to test the effects of CM on PDGFR. (B)
Representative Western blot images on phosphorylated (p) PDGFRα
(pPDGFRα), PDGFRβ (pPDGFRβ), and AKT (pAKT-S473) in normal and IPAH
PASMC incubated for 30 min with the CM collected from cell-free
controls (cell-free CM) or normal PAEC (PAEC-CM) after 48 h. (C)
Summarized data (means ± SE) showing the protein expression of
pPDGFRα (left panel), pPDGFRβ (middle panel), and pAKT-S473 (right
panel) in normal and IPAH-PASMC incubated with cell-free CM or
PAEC-CM for 30 min. *p < 0.05,
**p < 0.01 versus cell-free CM;
#P < 0.05 versus normal PASMC.
0.3% FBS basal medium was used for the collection. FBS: fetal bovine
serum; IPAH: idiopathic PAH; PAEC: pulmonary arterial endothelial
cell; pAKT: phosphorylated AKT; PASMC: pulmonary arterial smooth
muscle cell; PDGFRα: platelet-derived growth factor receptor α;
PDGFRβ: platelet-derived growth factor receptor β.