Fig. 1

CLEC14A knockdown decreased junctional integrity in ECs. a, d HUVEC and HBMEC monolayer permeability to FITC-dextran increased after knockdown of CLEC14A using siRNA(50 nM) and treatment with VEGF (50 ng/ml, 30 min). Absorbance of the solution in the lower chamber was measured after FITC-dextran was added to the transwell. b, e TEER was reduced by VEGF stimulation under the same conditions of the permeability assay before FITC-dextran was added. The TEER was measured using a Millicell ERS-2 (Millipore). c Immunofluorescence staining of VE-cadherin, ZO-1, and DAPI in untreated or VEGF-treated (50 ng/ml, 30 min) HUVECs after knockdown of CLEC14A. Each arrow indicates an attenuated junction. Scale bars: 20 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001. The results are mean values and the error bars represent the standard error of the mean values