Figure 3

ILK inhibition abolishes PDGF-induced p38 MAPK activation in mouse aortic SMCs. A) Mouse aortic SMCs were treated with specific MAPKs inhibitors at specified concentrations for 2 hours prior to seeding onto Transwell Boyden Chambers and PDGF-BB treatment (25 ng/ml) and during the incubation period (12 hours), and cell migration was measured at 12 hours post culture. As shown, inhibition of all three members of MAPKs family significantly reduced SMC migration in response to PDGF-BB. Data is the representative of three independent experiments (n = 3 cell culture replicates for each experiments). B) Mouse aortic SMCs were transfected with 20 nM of specific ILK siRNA and then treated with 25 ng/ml of PDGF-BB for specified timepoints. Inhibition of ILK protein expression markedly reduced PDGF-induced p38 MAPK phosphorylation in mouse aortic SMCs. The blot presents one of three independent experiments. The value in the graph is presented as the mean ± STDEV of three independent experiments. C) ILK inhibition by specific siRNA had no detectable effect on Erk1/2 and JNK phosphorylation in response to PDGF-BB treatment in mouse aortic SMC culture. Data presents one of three independent experiments (n = 3 cell cultures for each independent experiments).