Collagen External Scaffolds Mitigate Intimal Hyperplasia and Improve Remodeling of Vein Grafts in a Rabbit Arteriovenous Graft Model

Figure 6

CES prevents the upregulation of PCNA and ClvCasp-3 and partly inhibits the downregulation of SM22α. (a and c) Compared with the no-graft group level, the PCNA and ClvCasp-3 transcripts of graft group were increased, and they were prevented in the presence of the CES. (e) The SM22α transcript of graft group and CES group decreased compared to the no-graft group, but those of CES were higher than those of graft group. (b and d) The PCNA and ClvCasp-3 proteins were abundantly expressed in graft veins, which were prevented by the CES. (f) The SM22α protein was significantly downregulated in graft group. However, the CES partly prevented the downregulation of SM22α. N: no-graft group; G: graft group; G + S: CES group. versus no-graft group; versus graft group.