BMP-2 Overexpression Augments Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Motility by Upregulating Myosin Va via Erk Signaling

Figure 5

Effects of siRNA-mediated knockdown of myosin Vain rat VSMCs subjected to BMP-2 (250 ng/mL). (a) qRT-PCR analyses, demonstrating varying siRNA-mediated suppression of myosin Va mRNA expression. siRNA3 construct inhibited myosin Va mRNA expression to 0.13-fold of scramble levels. (b) Western blot demonstrating siRNA-3 construct inhibits the most myosin Va of all three generated siRNA constructs. (c) Myosin Va expression, determined by immunofluorescence, inhibited by siRNA-3. (d) Unicellular motility detected by Boyden chamber assay. (e) Multicellular population motility determined by wounding assay. Both (d) and (e) demonstrate that siRNA3 significantly inhibits migration compared to scramble control (unicellular motility 144±25 versus 248±20 cells/well, multicellular population 17.5±5 μm versus 45.2±4.8 μm). *Student’s 𝑡-test: 𝑃<0.01 versus control.