Figure 2

Altered aortic ring vasoreactivity in transgenic mice. (a) Representative vessel wall tension data from one wild-type (black trace) and two transgenic (red traces) aortic rings, showing attenuated contraction to two concentrations of KCl (30 and 80 mmol/L). (b) Summary data for wild-type (n = 7) and transgenic (n = 9) mice. Transgenic mouse aortae show significantly reduced contractile ability in response to direct stimulation of the smooth muscle cells with KCl at both low and high concentrations. (c) Phenylephrine (PE)-induced contraction is attenuated in transgenic aortic rings, and (d) U46619-induced (a stable thromboxane analogue) contraction is also reduced in the transgenic animal, plotted in response to cumulative concentrations of ligand. Vessels were obtained from WT (n = 8) and TG (n = 5) mice. (e) Vascular responses of aortic arteries isolated from WT (n = 9) and TG (n = 5) mice to cumulative concentrations of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) after preconstriction with U46619, data throughout figure are expressed as mean ± SEM; *P < 0.05.