Changes in Gastric Smooth Muscle Cell Contraction during Pregnancy: Effect of Estrogen
Figure 1
Expression of ERα and ERβ in GSMC from early- and late-pregnant rats. (a) and (b) Representative protein expression levels of ERα and Erβ, respectively, by ELISA. Protein expression level is expressed as OD 450 nm. ERα and ERβ proteins were more expressed in GSMCs from early-pregnant rats compared with those in GSMCs from late-pregnant rats. (c) and (d) Messenger RNA levels of ERα and ERβ were measured by qRT-PCR in RNA isolated from the GSMC of early- and late-pregnant animals and expressed as delta delta CT normalized to GAPDH and relative to level in late-pregnant sample. ERα and ERβ mRNAs were more expressed in GSMCs from early-pregnant rats compared with those in GSMCs from late-pregnant rats. Values shown are representative of three independent experiments performed in triplicate.P < 0.05 measurements in early-pregnant rats are significantly different from corresponding measurements in late-pregnant ones.