Figure 2.

In vitro targeting Cx37 reduces the proliferation of primary EC. (A) Western blot of primary human vein (HUVEC) and aortic EC (HAoEC) revealed that Cx37 expression was reduced by 80–90% 48 h after transfection with either siCx37¹ or siCx37⁴, two siRNAs targeting Cx37. Such a drastic change was not observed when the cells were transfected with a control siRNA (siCtl). Graphs show mean + SEM, *** p < 0.001 versus siCtl (one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-test). (B,C) As judged by the incorporation of BrdU (red) in the nuclei (stained in blue by DAPI), the proliferation of the HUVEC and HAoEC that had lost most of Cx37 was decreased to about 30% of control levels. Graphs show mean values + SEM, n = 8 separate experiments, each performed in duplicate. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 vs. siCtl (one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-test). Scale bars = 50 μm.