Figure 7
HES5 and JAG1 are implicated in endothelial lineage generation from PR-SMCs (II). (a) Real-time PCR revealed that after stimulating the cells with immobilized recombinant JAG1 from day 3 during differentiation, eNOS, vWF and Claudin-5 could be further upregulated (*p < 0.05 by Student’s t test, n = 3). (b) Knockdown JAG1 expression led to the downregulation of eNOS and Claudin-5 (*p < 0.05 by Student’s t test, n = 3). (c) Western blot analysis confirmed the downregulation of endothelial markers in concert with the JAG1 suppression. Control group refers to the SMC transfected with empty lentiviral vector that underwent the same reprogramming and differentiation protocol. Bands were cropped for the clarity. (d,e) Luciferase assay showed the activation of eNOS and HES5 promoter area with the transient overexpression of JAG1 (**p < 0.01 by Student’s t test, n = 3).
