Fig. 3
Blockade of CXCR7/ERK signaling mitigated the enhanced CAD-derived EPCs functions mediated by shear stress. a-d: The cultivated EPCs were subjected to scrambled-siRNA or Mission lentiviral CXCR7-siRNA infection for 48 h, and another 12 h of shear stress at 15 dyn/cm2. Then, migration, adhesion, tube formation, and apoptosis assays were carried out on these cells. a: Quantitative analysis and typical images for EPCs migration (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs in the presence or absence of shear stress treatment; n = 3 in each group). b: Quantitative analysis and typical images for EPCs adhesion (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs in the presence or absence of shear stress treatment; n = 3 in each group). c: Quantitative analysis and typical images for the complete tube formation of EPCs (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs in the presence or absence of shear stress treatment; n = 3 in each group). d: Quantitative analysis and typical images for EPCs apoptosis (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs with or without shear stress exposure; n = 3 in each group). e: Quantitative analysis for the CXCR7 and ERK mRNA levels in EPCs (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs in the presence or absence of shear stress exposure; n = 3 in each group). f: Quantitative analysis and typical images for the protein levels of CXCR7 and p-ERK/ERK determined through Western Blotting (**P < 0.01 vs. siRNA-transduced CAD-EPCs with or without shear stress treatment; n = 3 in each group)