Fig. 4

Silencing ZIP12 suppressed the phosphorylation of AKT and ERK1/2 in MCT-PAH-PASMCs. MCT-PAH-PASMCs were infected with LV-shNC or LV-shZIP12. After 72 h of infection, the cells were serum starved for 24 h in 0.2% FBS in DMEM-F12, followed by restimulation with 10% FBS in DMEM-F12 for 1 h. A, B Representative Western blot and summarized data showing the protein expression of A phosphorylated and total AKT and B phosphorylated and total ERK1/2 in MCT-PAH-PASMCs after ZIP12 silencing (A, n = 5 independent experiments; B, n = 4 independent experiments). Ctrl control, PAH pulmonary arterial hypertension, PASMCs pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, MCT monocrotaline. The data are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01