Figure 6

Western blot analysis of vimentin in the ascending and descending aortas. (A) Vimentin expression was investigated by Western blot in 2-, 6- and 12-month-old wild type (WT) and mLMNA⁺ mice. Blots were performed in triplicate and total vimentin intensity of the four isomer bands was normalized with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and the ratio indicated. At two months, vimentin was expressed at a similar level in WT and mLMNA⁺ ascending aortas. However, vimentin expression was reduced by 30% at 6 months and by 60% at 12 months in mLMNA⁺ ascending aortas. The 12-month descending aortas showed no difference between WT and mLMNA⁺ mice. (B) When the expression bands of SMαA in the ascending aortas of six-month-old WT and mLMNA⁺ mice were normalized to GAPDH, they were similar (ratio = 1.0:0.9). (*P <0.001).