Fig. 1

VPA downregulates ACE2 and NRP1 expression in cell lines from different sources. Human cell lines (BEAS-2B, HK-2, HUVEC, Caco-2, and Huh-7) were treated with different doses of VPA (1, 2, 4, and 8 mM) for 24 h. VPA was diluted in culture medium, which was also used as control. Expression of the ACE2 (a, b) and NRP1 (c, d) receptors was assayed by RT-qPCR (a, c) and western blot (WB) (b, d). GADPH and β-actin genes were used as endogenous controls to quantify mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Transcription levels were calculated by the 2^−ΔCT method (ΔCT: CT gene test—CT endogenous control). Data are presented as the mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05