Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Increased DNA Damage in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA-SMC)

Figure 5

DNA damage in response to AngII in AAA-SMC ( cultures) versus healthy VSMC ( cultures). Cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of AngII for 24 h, respectively; fixed; and immunostained with an anti-γ-H2A.X antibody as described in Materials and Methods. 100 μM H₂O₂ was used as a positive control for maximal DNA damage after 24 h. (a) Representative images of healthy VSMC and AAA-SMC after treatment with AngII for 24 h.  μm. (b) Graphical representation of the image evaluation. Data points represent the mean percentage of γ-H2A.X-positive nuclei per total nuclei for each cell culture and are presented with median of AAA-SMC cultures and healthy VSMC cultures. Eight to fifteen images of each culture were evaluated for analysis. Statistical analysis was performed pairwise with the Mann–Whitney test, . Ordinary one-way ANOVA was performed to test for a linear trend. ; ns: not significant.

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