Journal: Theranostics
Article Title: Flow-induced Klf4-Akt signaling links EC cycling to mural cell defects in arterial-venous malformations
doi: 10.7150/thno.121154
Figure Lengend Snippet: Thalidomide induced PDGFB expression improves AVM formation. (A) WB for PDGFB and GAPDH in CTRL and SMAD4 siRNAs HUVECs grown in complete medium and subject to 12 Dynes/cm 2 FSS for 24 h treated with DMSO or thalidomide (100 μM). (B) Quantification of PDGFB protein levels normalized to GAPDH in the indicate conditions (n = 4 independent experiments/group). (C) Negative confocal images of IB4 stained of P6 retinas from Tx induced Smad4 iΔEC neonates treated with DMSO or thalidomide. Yellow arrowheads indicate AVMs. (D) Quantification of AVM number per P6 retina in DMSO and thalidomide treated Smad4 iΔEC neonates (n = 13 retinas from 7-8 mice/genotype). (E,G,I,K) High magnification confocal images of P6 retina vascular plexus from Tx induced Smad4 iΔEC DMSO or thalidomide treated neonates, labeled for PDGFRβ (red) and IB4 (blue) E ; for PECAM (white) (G) ; for GM130 (red), Erg1 (white) and IB4 (green) (I) and for KI67 (red) and IB4 (blue) (K) . (F, H, J, L) Quantification of % PDGFRΒ+ pericyte coverage per capillary area from images in E (n = 5 retinas from 3-5 mice/group) (F) ; of EC size (μm 2 ) from images in G (n = 30 (10 measurements per retina from 3 mice/group)) (H) ; of % of oriented ECs against the direction of flow in vascular plexus capillaries from images in I (n = 6 (2 images per retina from 3 mice/group)) (J) and quantification of KI67 + ECs per vascular area from images in K (L) (n = 6 (2 images per retina from 3 mice/group)). a, artery; v, vein. Scale Bars: 100 μm in panel A , 20 μm in panels E , G , I ; 50 μm in panel K . Statistical significance was determined using 2-way Anova with Tukey's multiple comparison test in B and t-test in D , F , H , J , L . Data are represented as mean ± SEM with adjusted p values. ns: non-significant, * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001, **** P < 0.0001.
Article Snippet: Phosphatidylinositol-4,5-Biphosphate 3-Kinase (PI3K) inhibitor: Pictilisib (Selleckchem, 20 nM), CDK4/6 inhibitor (Palbociclib, 2 μM), Thalidomide (Selleckchem, 100 μM), all diluted in DMSO, were added to cells subject to 12 dynes/cm2 FSS for 24 h. Corresponding volumes of DMSO were added to CTRL cells.
Techniques: Expressing, Staining, Labeling, Comparison