Fig 2: Inhibition of EZH2 in rat aortic rings exposed to intermittent hyperglycemia reduces H3K27me3 levels and blocks inflammatory signaling ex vivo. (A–D) Immunoblotting for H3K27me3 ((A), n = 4), KLF2 ((B), n = 4), eNOS ((C), n = 4), and ICAM1 ((D), n = 4) in rat aortic rings challenged with the EZH2 inhibitor GSK126 (10 µM for 72 h) in combination with intermittent high glucose. Tissues continuously exposed to normal glucose (5.5 mM) were considered as the non-intermittent high glucose treatment condition. All analyzed data were normalized to the control treatment condition. Values represent the mean ± SD. * p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01 by unpaired t test.

Fig 3: Effects of acacetin on related indicators of vasodilatory function in SHR rats with insulin resistance. a The level of TM, ARG2, Nostrin and eNOS in rat aortic tissues were detected by Western Blotting. b The quantitative results of Western Blotting. c Nitric acid reductase was used to detect NO in rat serum. Values are expressed as the mean ± SD of 3 samples. #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01 vs. SHR(F) group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 vs. WKY group

Fig 4: Both ICA and ICT treatment decreased oxidative/nitrosative stress and lipid peroxidation in the left cerebral hemisphere tissues of mice with acute cerebral ischemia–reperfusion. (A) The levels of protein expression for antioxidant enzymes (catalase and SOD1) and nitrosative stress-related proteins (caveolin-1, eNOS, and iNOS) in the hippocampus and cortex tissues were determined by Western blot. The quantification of protein expression was determined by densitometry. (B) The measurement of brain lipid peroxidation product MDA is shown. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 4). * p < 0.05 compared to sham group; # p < 0.05 compared to MCAO group.

Fig 5: NELL-1 increases FGF2-AKT-eNOS pathway signaling. (A) Heatmap showing temporal expression patterns of angiogenesis-related mRNAs identified using pericytes treated with NELL-1 (100 ng/mL or 800 ng/mL). Z-scores of normalized read counts are indicated by the colored bars. Red: high expression; green: low expression. (B) Validation of selected differentially expressed mRNAs in pericytes treated with NELL-1 (800 ng/mL) via qRT-PCR. ß-actin was used as a normalization control. Data were obtained from 3 independent experiments. Error bars represent mean ± SEM. (C) Western blot analysis of FGF2 pathway-related proteins after 72 h of stimulation with 800 ng/mL NELL-1. Data were obtained from 3 independent experiments. Error bars represent mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001.