Fig. 5

The effect of FDPS and Rac1 on PAH through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. A Immunoblot analysis for p-AKT, AKT, p-mTOR, mTOR, P-PI3K and PI3K in the normal, MCT-induced PAH rats. n = 4–9 per group. B Pretreated with selective Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 (NSC) 100 μm for 3 h significantly reduced MCTP induced PAECs proliferation. CCK8 assay on cell proliferation at PAECs. n = 4–5 per group. C Pretreated with selective Rac1 inhibitor NSC23766 (NSC) 100 μm for 3 h significantly reduced MCTP induced PAECs migration. Crystal violet staining of PAECs that crossed the polycarbonate membrane of the transwell invasion chamber. Representative photomicrographs were shown in left. The number of migrated cells were calculated and showed in right. n = 9–14 per group. D Knockdown of Rac1 and FDPS reduced the autophagy level in the MCTP treated PAECs through PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Immunoblot analysis for p-AKT, AKT, p-mTOR, mTOR, p-PI3K, PI3K, LC3b II and P62 in the scramble, MCTP treated scramble, MCTP treated siFDPS-transfected and MCTP treated siRac1-transfected PAECs. GAPDH was used as internal reference. n = 3 per group. E Western bolt was used to detect the total and activated Rac1 using a pull-down assay. n = 3 per group. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. All experiments were independently replicated in triplicate. *p < 0.05