Figure 3.

ZFAS1 overexpression promotes the proliferation of VSMCs stimulated by ox-LDL. (A) Relative mRNA ZFAS1 expression was quantified via reverse transcription-quantitative PCR following ZGAS1 overexpression. (B) Viability of VSMCs was examined using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. (C) Protein expression levels of Ki67 and PCNA were determined by western blotting. The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. ^**P<0.01 and ^***P<0.001 vs. Control; ^#P<0.05 and ^##P<0.01 vs. ox-LDL + oe-NC. ZFAS1, zinc finger antisense 1; ox-LDL, oxidized low-density lipoprotein; VSMCs, vascular smooth muscle cells; PCNA, proliferating cell nuclear antigen; oe, overexpression; NC, negative control.