Figure 4

Effect of 10 ?M Y-27632 on the apoptotic degeneration of organ-cultured rabbit mesenteric arteries. (A) Cross-sections of the freshly isolated and organ-cultured mesenteric arteries were stained using the TUNEL method. The cell nuclei were counterstained with DAPI, and the elastin autofluorescence was captured to define the tunica media. To validate the TUNEL assay results, we used the arterial rings cultured with 1 ?M angiotensin II (AT II) as the positive control sample. The representative TUNEL (red) images merged with the DAPI (blue) and autofluorescence (green) images. (B) Statistical analysis of TUNEL data in the tunica media under each condition (n = 7). The asterisk represents a significant (P < 0.05) difference from that of the fresh mesenteric artery on D0. The number sign represents a significant (P < 0.05) difference from that of the FBS-supplemented organ-cultured mesenteric artery in the presence of Y-27632.