Figure 5.

ILK regulates PDGF-induced SMC migration through a p38 MAPK-dependent pathway. A) Kinase deficient mutant of ILK significantly reduced PDGF-induced SMC migration in a Traswell Boyden Chamber migration assay. As shown, expression of a wild type form of ILK rescued SMC migratory response indicating the specificity of ILK inhibition by the adenoviral construct. B) Over-expression of an active form of MKK3/MKK6 (specific upstream activators of p38 MAPK), but not a wild type form of p38 MAPK, rescued SMC migration in response to PDGF-BB indicating that an active form of ILK is required for the initiation of a p38 MAPK-dependent migratory response to PDGF-BB in mouse aortic SMCs. (n = 3 cell cultures for each independent experiments).