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Fig. 2. Effects of different connexins on Ca²⁺ communication between ECs and VSMCs. In the cartoon at the top of the figure, the pipette indicates the stimulated cell type (ECs top, VSMCs bottom). In control conditions (A,B), stimulation of ECs (A) resulted in an increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i and, after a short delay, an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i. (B) Stimulation of VSMCs resulted in an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i and, after a short delay, an increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i. (C,D) When ECs from Cx40^–/– animals were used, stimulation of ECs (C) resulted in an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i and stimulation of VSMCs (D) caused an increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i. (E,F) ECs with Cx43 siRNA were also tested and EC stimulation of these cells resulted in an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i (E). Stimulation of VSMCs increased EC [Ca²⁺]_i (F). (G,H) When both Cx40 and Cx43 were deleted from the ECs, stimulation of ECs resulted in an increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i, but not VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i (G), and stimulation of VSMCs caused only an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i, and not EC [Ca²⁺]_i (H). (I,J) This observation was also evident when Cx43 was deleted from VSMCs: after stimulation of ECs, there was no increase in [Ca²⁺]_i in VSMCs (I) and, after stimulation of VSMCs, no increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i was observed (J). (K,L) Lastly, when the gap-junction inhibitor 18 -GA was used, stimulation of ECs was unable to produce an increase in VSMC [Ca²⁺]_i (K) and stimulation of VSMCs was unable to produce an increase in EC [Ca²⁺]_i (L). ^*P<0.05.

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