Apelin treatment increases expression of pro-survival and pro-angiogenic growth factors in BMCs.

<p><b>A and B</b>. Representative phosphorylation levels of Akt-(473) and eNOS-(1177) in cultured BMCs of post-MI mice. The phosphorylation of Akt-(473) and eNOS-(1177) was significantly enhanced in cultured BMCs from apelin-treated post-MI mice (n = 4 mice, *p<0.05). <b>C</b>. Expression of VEGF in cultured BMCs of post-MI mice. VEGF expression in cultured BMCs was significantly upregulated in apelin treated post-MI mice compared to saline-treated mice at 24 hour and 14 days of post-MI (n = 4 mice, *p<0.05). <b>D and E</b>. Expression of Notch3 and Jagged1 in cultured BMCs of post-MI mice. Notch3 expression in cultured BMCs was significantly increased in control post-MI mice compared with sham control mice at 14 days. Treatment with apelin led to a significant increase in Notch3 expression in cultured BMCs of post-MI mice compared to control post-MI mice at 14 days (n = 4 mice, *p<0.05). Jagged1 expression in cultured BMCs was significantly increased in control post-MI mice compared with sham control mice at 14 days. Treatment with apelin resulted in a significant increase in Jagged1 expression compared to control post-MI mice (n = 4 mice, *p<0.05). <b>F and G</b>. CXCR-4 and SDF-1α expression in cultured BMCs of post-MI mice. The expression of CXCR-4 and SDF-1α was significantly upregulated in cultured BMCs of the apelin treated post-MI mice compared to saline-treated post-MI mice at 24 hour and 14 days (n = 4 mice, *p<0.05). <b>H</b>. BMC colony formation units. Apelin treatment led to a significantly increase in colony formation in cultured BMCs compared to saline-treated mice at 14 days of post-MI (n = 6 mice, *p<0.05). I. Schematic diagram of apelin-BMCs treatment and experimental endpoints <i>in vivo</i>.