Figure 6

(A) The levels of endothelin ET _B receptor mRNA expression in human internal mammary arteries, examined using real time PCR. (B) Endothelin ET_B receptor protein expression in human internal mammary arteries, examined using Western blot. The arteries were either not cultured or cultured in the absence or presence of mitogen-activated kinase (MAPK) pathway inhibitors; the P38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580, the ERK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 or the JNK inhibitor SP600125. The results are shown as mean values ± S.E.M of six experiments. Endothelin ET_B mRNA levels in cultured and non-cultured arteries were compared using Student's t-test, where P < 0.05 (*) and P < 0.01 (**) was considered significant.