FIGURE 5.

Treatment of hPASMC with an siRNA against EGFR prevented the HCM‐induced increase in hPASMC viable cell number. hPASMC were treated with either scramble siRNA or siRNA against EGFR (siEGFR) for 24 h, allowed to recover for 24 h, and then 1 × 10⁴ hPASMC were plated in each well of a 6‐well plate. The hPASMC were incubated in HCM in normoxia for 48 h. (a) Protein was isolated from the hPASMC and used in Western blotting for total EGFR followed by stripping and re‐probing with β‐actin. Representative Western blots for EGFR and β‐actin, demonstrating knockdown of EGFR by siEGFR. n = 3 for each group. (b) Viable cell numbers are determined by trypan blue exclusion. *HCM siEGFR different from HCM scramble, p < 0.001. n = 6 for each group.