Measurement of blood pressure in mice

C57BL/6 wild-type mice (National Laboratory Animal Center, Taiwan) were used for experiments. A noninvasive tail-cuff method was used to measure systolic blood pressure (SBP) using a non-preheating MK-2000ST system (Muromachi Kikai Corp.). Conscious mice (~12-week-old male mice) were placed in special mouse holders and acclimated to the device for 10 min before measurement. A minimum of 3 serial measurements was made and the average value calculated. The SBP of each mouse was measured at baseline before IP injection of vehicle (PBS) or 5-MTP (Sigma, M4001) (100 mg/kg, 3 times a week⁹) and at different time points following initial injection. 5-MTP was dissolved in 0.05 N HCl (made in PBS) first, pH adjusted to 7.4 by NaOH, and then a stock solution of 6.5 mg/mL was prepared with PBS.