Figure 6

In vitro and in vivo effects of sildenafil mediated via cGK pathway. (a) Western blot assay (upper panel) demonstrates the activity of active form (S65D) and dominant negative (K390R) of cGK1 α and β. Lower panel shows that cGK activation by sildenafil was reversed by gene transfer of dominant-negative of α subtype of cGK1. pVASP Ser 239 = phospho-VASP at serine239 (n = 3). (b) The graphs show that the inhibitory effect of sildenafil on cell viability was reversed by the gene transfer of dominant-negative of cGK1α (αKR). The gene transfer of active form of cGK1α (αSD) reduced the increased viability by PDGF treatment (n = 3). * indicates P < 0.05. (c) In vivo sections at 2 weeks after injury demonstrated that the transfer of lentiviral vector expressing active form of cGK(αSD) showed a similar effect as sildenafil-treated group, which was reversed by the transfer of lentiviral vector expressing dominant-negative form of cGK (αKR) (n = 10). Scale bar = 100 µm. ** indicates P < 0.01.