Palmitic acid stimulates PGC-1α expression and retards high glucose-induced VSMC growth and movement.

<p>Cultured rat VSMCs in 5.5 mM glucose were either left untreated or stimulated with 15 mM glucose (HG) in the absence and presence of 0.4 mM palmitic acid (PA) for 48 h. PGC-1α expression was determined by real-time RT-PCR (A) and by Western blot with PGC-1 antibody compared with GAPDH antibody, 120 µg total proteins from VSMCs were loaded (B). Cell growth was determined by counting the number of cells (C). Migration distance was determined by a standard wound healing assay (D) and transwell analysis (E). The bars represent means±S.E.M (n = 6). **P<0.01 compared with control conditions, #P<0.001 compared with the control group.