Fig. 6

Effects of PAHs and oxy-PAHs on the formation of the focal adhesion complex and actin reorganization. a VSMCs were treated with control (0.1% DMSO), 10 μM of ANT, AQ, BaA, or BAQ, and stained with the anti-AhR antibodies (red) at the indicated time points. Representative fluorescent images show the translocation of AhR in the nucleus. Scale bar, 50 µm. b The formation of the focal adhesion complex by PAHs was determined by immunocytochemical co-staining for FAK and paxillin; integrin β1 and actin. Representative fluorescent images of VSMCs with and without α-NF treatment are shown. Scale bar, 50 µm. c The expression levels of focal adhesion-related proteins were analyzed by western blotting at indicated time points. Protein levels were normalized to their total levels with the exception of paxillin, which was normalized to β-actin. d The effect of α-NF on the expression of focal adhesion-related proteins were analyzed by western blotting. Protein levels were normalized against those of β-actin. e The effect of α-NF treatment on the mRNA levels of integrins were evaluated by qPCR. All values are represented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001 versus control; ^&P < 0.05, ^&&P < 0.01, and ^&&&P < 0.001 PAHs with α-NF versus PAHs alone; NS, no significance