Fig. 7.

Knockdown of PKR in PAECs prevents the abnormal proliferation of PASMCs. (a) The diagram of co-culture system. (b) In the co-culture system, PAECs were transfected with negative control siRNA (siCon) or PKR siRNA (siPKR) and then stimulated with TNF-α, CCK8 measures the proliferation ability of PASMCs (n = 3). (c) PASMCs were analyzed by immunofluorescence for the expression of Ki67 (red), α-SMA (green) and nuclei (DAPI, blue) in the indicated groups. (d) Bar charts showing the percentage of Ki67-positive PASMC (n = 3). (e, f) The release of HMGB1 (e) and IL-1β (f) by indicated PAECs (n = 6). (g) In the co-cultured system, PAECs were transfected with siCon or siPKR, and then stimulated with TNF-α. Simultaneously, PASMCs were treated with vehicle or recombinant HMGB1 and IL-1β, and the proliferation of PASMCs were analyzed by CCK8 and the percentage of cell proliferation was shown in the bar charts (n = 3).

*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by one-way ANOVA relative to the control group.