Fig. 5.

S protein exposure does not influence the dynamics of VSMCs. A) Western blot analysis shows that B) ACE2 expression as well as C) α-SMA expression in human brain VSMCs remains unchanged 24 h after exposure to S protein. D) Brightfield images of living cells shows that the morphology of human VSMCs remains intact upon exposure to S protein for 24 h. E) Morphological analysis shows that cell circularity index slightly increases upon exposure of VSMCs to 10 nM and 15 nM S protein for 24 h. F) Cell perimeter slightly decreases only upon exposure to 15 nM S protein for 24 h. G) Cell body size slightly decreases only upon exposure to 15 nM S protein for 24 h. H) XTT cell viability assay shows that exposure to S protein for 24 h does not affect the survival of VSMCs. Data are mean ± SEM (n = 3 independent experiments/ condition; Cell morphology analysis, n = randomly selected 10 to 12 vehicle- and S protein-treated cells per image for a total of 3 images per experimental condition; XTT cell viability assay, n = 12 wells/ condition). *P < 0.05/ **P < 0.01/***P < 0.001/****P < 0.0001 compared with vehicle-treated pericytes (two-tailed unpaired t-test). Vehicle, ddH₂O; XTT, 2/3-bis-(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide.