Fig. 1

Cx43 hemichannels are involved in endothelial cell migration. a, Representative images of the endothelial cell migration observed in the wound-healing assay in control conditions. Primary cultures of mesenteric endothelial cells were prepared for wound-healing assay and cell migration was analyzed at 0, 10, 15 or 20 h after scratching the monolayer. Yellow lines are only intended to highlight the migration front and are not a reference for migration analysis. b, Quantitative analysis of the endothelial cells movement in control conditions into the cell-free scratched area at different time points (10, 15 and 20 h). c, Quantitative analysis of the endothelial cell migration observed before (Control) and after the treatment with 50 µM 18-ß-Glycyrrhetenic acid (ß-GA), a general Cx-formed channel inhibitor, or 300 µM TAT-Gap19 (Gap19), a specific Cx43 hemichannel blocking peptide. d, Representative images of immunofluorescence analysis of Cx43 expression in primary cultures of mesenteric endothelial cells in control conditions (monolayer) and in the migration front 4 h after scratching the monolayer. Cell nuclei are highlighted by the staining with DAPI (blue). Numbers inside the bars indicate the n value. Values are means ± SEM. *, P < 0.05 vs. Control by one-way ANOVA plus Bonferroni post hoc test