Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 19 pp 8120—8138
The interaction between STAT3 and nAChRα1 interferes with nicotine-induced atherosclerosis via Akt/mTOR signaling cascade
Figure 5. Nicotine stimulates the nuclear translocation of STAT3 and its binding to the Akt promoter region. (A) The protein expression of p-STAT3 in the nucleus in MOVAS cells upon nicotine exposure. (B) The nuclear translocation of STAT3 in MOVAS cells, as determined by confocal microscopy. Magnification, 630×; bars, 50 μm. Arrow means nuclear area. (C) The length of the DNA fragments used for the ChIP assay. (D) The binding of STAT3 to the promoter region of the Akt gene, as detected by the ChIP-PCR assay. (E) The binding site of STAT3 in the Akt promoter region, as predicted by JASPAR. Each experiment was performed three times.