Figure 5.

Overexpressing β-catenin reduced VEGF's ability to relax barrier. (A) Cells stably expressing the tet-regulated expression plasmid encoding a constitutively activated mutant of β-catenin (Addgene 114281) were pretreated with either vehicle (“Control”; black and red), or doxycycline (“Overexpression of β-catenin”; blue and pink) for 3 days and then barrier function was monitored following no further perturbation (black and blue) or in response to VEGF/anti-VEGF (pink and red). Data were normalized to the initial TEER, which was measured at the 0-hour time point. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD for a single representative experiment. *P < 0.05. Similar results were found in three independent experiments, which are shown as panels G–I of Supplementary Figure S5. (B) The area under the curve for the 0 to 20 hour period was quantified, and normalized to the “Control” or “Control V/aV” groups; V/aV indicates VEGF/anti-VEGF. *P < 0.05. (C) The area under the curve was quantified from 23 to 45 hours. n.s.: not significant. (D) The area under the curve was quantified for the entire time (0–45 hours). *P < 0.05.