Research Paper
Extracellular histones induce inflammation and senescence of vascular smooth muscle cells by activating the AMPK/FOXO4 signaling pathway
Figure 5. The AMPK signaling pathway mediates extracellular histone-upregulated FOXO4 expression. (A) VSMCs were treated with or without histones; then, western blot was used to examine the protein level of the signal pathway molecule. (B) Quantitative analysis of (A). (C) VSMCs were treated with histones and then incubated with the AKT pathway inhibitor (LY94002) or the AMPK pathway inhibitor (BML-275) for 6 h. NLRP3, p21, FOXO4, and p-Rb1 protein levels were determined using western blotting. (D) Quantitative analysis of (C). (E) IL-β and TNF-α expressions were determined using RT-qPCR in BML-275-treated VSMCs after shFOXO3 transfection. For (B, E, and D), data are from three independent experiments; mean ± SEM; Student's t-test, *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 vs. the corresponding control.