Figure 1

Whole-cell patch-clamp analysis of hMSMCs depleted of caveolin-1 using an siRNA approach. siRNA-mediated depletion of caveolin-1 (cav-1) in non-laboring hMSMCs (C) decreases current density relative to that in non-infected hMSMCs (A) and hMSMCs treated with a scrambled siRNA (B). (D) Bar graph summarizes and compares the mean current densities presented in A-C. Inhibiting cav-1 resulted in a 49% decrease in the mean current density compared to that in non-infected control cells, and a 45% decrease in comparison to that in samples treated with a scrambled siRNA. In non-infected control cells, IbTX decreased the mean current density by 74%. Significant differences (p < 0.05) between samples treated with cav-1 siRNA and non-infected controls (*) or scrambled siRNA (#) are noted. (§ indicates significant difference between non-infected controls in the presence and absence of IbTX. Data shown are the mean values for 16 (control), 6 (scrambled siRNA control), 14 (cav-1 siRNA) and 3 (control+IbTX) independent experiments ± standard error.