Figure 1

Effects of VPA on the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation and histone H3 acetylation. (a, d) Representative immunoblots showingdegree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation (a) and histone H3 acetylation (d) in cells grown in the absence of VPA for 48 h. (c, f) Representative immunoblots showing changes in the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation (c) and histone H3 acetylation (f) in cells grown in the absence or presence of 3 mM VPA for 48 h. The corresponding levels of Erk1/2 (a, c) or actin (d, f) are shown as loading controls. Protein levels are not comparable between different cell lines. As a positive control for histone H3 acetylation, Swiss 3T3 cells were treated with trichostatin A (TSA; 400 nM, 24 h) (d, first lane). (b, e) Bar graphs showing the effects of VPA (3 mM, 48 h) on the degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation (b) and histone H3 acetylation (e). The degree of Erk1/2 phosphorylation and histone H3 acetylation were normalized to the corresponding cells untreated with VPA from 6-12 individual experiments.