Clinical and biochemical parameters of study subjects by group.

<p>Data represented by mean ± standard deviation;</p>a<p>indicates group significantly different from control;</p>b<p>indicates group significantly different from obese without diabetes;</p>c<p>indicates group significantly different from non-obese diabetes;</p>d<p>indicates group significantly different from obese diabetes. Level of significance is given at p≤0.05. Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; SAD, sagittal abdominal diameter; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.</p

Correlation analysis of anthropometric and clinical parameters with serum RBP4, FABP4 and LCN2.

<p>Correlation analysis of anthropometric and clinical parameters with serum RBP4, FABP4 and LCN2.</p

Establishment of principal components.

<p>Eigen vectors (factor loadings for standardized variables) for first two principal components.</p

Pearson correlations of CVD component 1 and BMI with anthropometric and biochemical parameters in CVD subjects.

<p>Pearson correlations of CVD component 1 and BMI with anthropometric and biochemical parameters in CVD subjects.</p

Serum levels of FABP4, LCN2 and RBP4 in obese subjects with or without diabetes and in CVD patients.

<p>The CVD group had significantly higher level of serum RBP4 compared to any of the other groups. FABP4 values were significantly higher in obese, obese diabetic and CVD subjects compared to control and non-obese diabetic groups. LCN2 values were higher in CVD subjects than any of the others but this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.46).</p

Effect of SCC-1 on high-K⁺-induced airway smooth muscle contraction.

<p>A) Concentration-response curves for the relaxant effect of SCC-1 on the rat tracheal rings contracted by 60 mM KCl in the absence (▪) or presence (□) of atropine (10⁻⁶ M). B) Concentration-response curves for the relaxing effect of SCC-1 in the rat tracheal rings contracted by 60 mM KCl (▪), high-K⁺ solution (•) and high-K⁺-Cl^–-free solution (▽), high-K⁺-Cl^−/HCO₃⁻-free solution (△). */^#<i>p</i><0.05, **/^##<i>p</i><0.01, ***/^###/+++<i>p</i><0.0001, two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni <i>post hoc</i> test. *, high-K⁺ versus high-K⁺-Cl^–-free solution. ^#, 60 mM KCl versus high-K⁺-Cl^–-free solution, ⁺, high-K⁺-Cl^−/HCO₃⁻-free solution versus all groups. C) In the presence of 3×10⁻⁵ M of SCC-1 addition of 60 mM KCl to the organ chamber containing high-K⁺-Cl^−/HCO₃⁻-free solution caused relaxation of airway smooth muscles. ***<i>p</i><0.0001, one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s <i>post hoc</i> test. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, <i>n</i> = 4.</p

Contractile responses of isolated rat trachea rings to 60 mM KCl in the absence (▪) or presence (□) of SCC-1 (A an B, 1 and 5×10⁻⁶ M respectively).

<p>Contractions are expressed as a percentage of the response to 60 mM KCl. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, <i>n</i> = 4. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01, Student’s <i>t</i>-test.</p

Chemical structure of SCC-1.

<p>Chemical structure of SCC-1.</p

ER66 and ER46, but not ER36, binds with 17β-estradiol at physiological concentrations.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Specific binding of [³H]-17β-estradiol to ER66 (○) and ER46 (•) expressed in eukaryotic system with K_d values of 68.8 pM and 60.72 pM, respectively. No saturable specific binding was found for ER36 (□). (<b>C</b>) Specific binding of [³H]-17β-estradiol to ER66 (○) and ER46 (•) expressed in prokaryotic system with K_d values of 119.4 pM and 433.7 pM, respectively. No saturable specific binding was found for ER36 (□). (<b>B, D</b>) Scatchard plot analysis for ER66 and ER46 showed single-site binding. Results are representative of three experiments each done in duplicate.</p

Colocalization of ER66, ER46 and ER36 with plasma membrane.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Confocal microscopy of HEK293 cells transfected with VSVG-tagged ER66, ER46 or ER36 treated with anti-VSVG followed by Oregon Green 488 goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody (green). Plasma membrane is marked with anti-pan cadherin primary antibody followed by Texas Red goat anti-mouse antibody (red). Overlay images show colocalization of ER66, ER46 and ER36 with the plasma membrane (yellow). White arrows indicate some colocalization sites. (<b>B</b>) Western blot showing relative transfection efficiencies of His-tagged ER66, ER46 and ER36 in HEK293 cells using β-actin as a reference. Bands of 66, 46 and 36 kDa for ERs were detected by anti-HisG antibody and bands of 42 kDa were detected by anti-β-actin antibody.</p