Figure 2

FAK inhibition induces CNTF expression in vitro. A) C6 cells incubated for 4 hours with FAK inhibitor PF573228 have increased levels of CNTF mRNA compared to vehicle-only cultures (Ctrl). B) The inhibitor reduced FAK activity as shown in Western blots by the reduced levels of phosphorylated FAK (pFAK tyr-397). C) CNTF protein was also increased in the same protein extracts, showing the rapid and robust nature of the disinhibition. Blots are representative of 4 independent observations. D) C6 cell injury by mechanical dissociation robustly induced CNTF mRNA within 2 hours which was lost by 6 hours. E) FAK inhibition did not augment the dissociation-induced CNTF mRNA up-regulation. Data are fold change compared to controls and are shown as average +/− SEM. In A, n = 6, D and E, n = 4.