Effects of different concentrations of azelnidipine on the activation of JNK (A) and p38 (B) induced by cyclic mechanical stretch in RASMCs; and the comparison of the effects of azelnidipine and MAP kinase inhibitors on the activation of JNK (C) and p38 (D) induced by cyclic mechanical stretch in RASMCs.

<p>The cells were pre-incubated by CS905 (10 nM, 100 nM), SP600125 (20 µM), and SB203580 (20 µM) for 20 min prior to exposing to cyclic mechanical stretch by 15% elongation for 10 min. The phosphorylation of JNK and p38 were measured as described under <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0102813#s2" target="_blank"><i>Materials and Methods</i></a>. Azelnidipine (CS905), SP600125, and SB203580 are abbreviated as CS, SP, and SB. Densitometric analysis of each value was normalized by arbitrarily setting the densitometric value of the control cells (Ctrl.) to 1. Each value represents the mean ± S.D. (n = 3). The asterisks represent significant differences compared with the stretched control value (*<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01).