Figure 2.

Flow patterns regulate PCSK9 expression. (A, B) Compared with normal flow, helical flow inhibits whereas low flow induces PCSK9 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. (C, D) Helical flow up-regulates whereas low flow down-regulates LDLr expression. The straight segments of the rabbit thoracic aorta were used in (A) to (D), treated with LPS (20 ng/mL) in the perfusion medium for 12 h. Bar graphs represent data compiled from three independent experiments (n = 5 rabbit per genotype), shown as mean ± standard deviation. The significances between two groups were tested by unpaired t-test; Multiple comparisons were analysed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc comparisons test (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; ****P < 0.0001).