Cucurbitacin I attenuates hypertrophic responses in PE-stimulated cardiomyocytes.

<p>(A) Representative photograph of cardiomyocytes treated with PE (100 μM) after cucurbitacin I (1 μM) pretreatment. Sarcomeric organization of the cardiomyocytes was visualized by staining with an anti-<b>α</b>-actinin antibody. The sarcomeric response was completely blocked by pretreatment with cucurbitacin I. (B) Cell surface areas were measured by using NIH Image J software (n = 100 cells). Scale bars, 50 μm. (C) Quantitative RT-PCR analysis for ANF and β-MHC mRNA expression in cucurbitacin I-pretreated/PE-treated rat cardiomyocytes. The RT-PCR analysis was performed in triplicate with three independent samples. Data are expressed as fold changes ± S.D. vs. the control group. Significance was measured via a two-way ANOVA. * <i>P</i> < 0.05. Cont, control; Cu I, Cucurbitacin I.