BMP-2 activates βC via pAkt-dependent inhibition of GSK3β and is independent of Smad signaling. (A and B) βC activation in 10 ng/ml BMP-2–stimulated hPASMCs transfected with a nonfunctional pAkt (ΔAkt) in A and a Smad 1 construct (ΔSmad 1) in B was measured by immunoblot analysis and compared with values in cells transfected with vector alone. The pGSK3β activation in A was measured relative to total GSK3β. Bars represent means ± SEM from n = 3. ***, P < 0.0001 versus time 0 in A was determined using one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s. ***, P < 0.0001 in B were determined using the unpaired t test.