Fig. 1

BRCC36 levels are decreased during vascular calcification. A Representative Masson staining, Alizarin Red S staining, chest CT, IHC staining of RUNX2 and BRCC36 antibody in CKD patients without and with VC. Scale bar, 50 μm. n = 5 per group. B Representative IF staining of BRCC36 (red), α-SMA (green), and DAPI (blue) in CKD patients without and with VC. Scale bar, 100 μm. n = 5 per group. C Representative Masson staining in control and CKD kidneys. D Serum creatinine (Cr), serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum phosphorus (Pi), and serum calcium (Ca) levels. n = 6 per group. E Representative Von Kossa staining and IHC staining of BRCC36 antibody in control and CKD vessels. Scale bar, left two columns: 200 μm; right columns: 50 μm. n = 6 per group. F Protein expression of BRCC36 in calcified vessels of CKD mice was measured by western blotting. n = 6 per group. G Representative Alizarin Red S staining images in control and calcified VSMCs. H RT-PCR analysis of BRCC36 mRNA expression in control and calcified VSMCs. n = 3 per group. I Representative IF images and quantitative analysis of BRCC36 expression in control and calcified VSMCs. J Protein level and quantitative analysis of BRCC36 in control and calcified VSMCs. n = 3 per group. Statistical significance was assessed using t-test. All values are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05