About the Authors

Ting-Ting Chang

Affiliation Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Tao-Cheng Wu

Affiliations Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Cardiovascular Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Po-Hsun Huang

Affiliations Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Cardiovascular Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Chih-Pei Lin

Affiliation Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Jia-Shiong Chen

Affiliations Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Cardiovascular Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Liang-Yu Lin

Affiliations Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Shing-Jong Lin

Affiliations Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Cardiovascular Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Jaw-Wen Chen

jwchen@vghtpe.gov.tw

Affiliations Institute of Pharmacology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Department of Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Cardiovascular Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C

Competing Interests

In this study, aliskiren and olmesartan were given as gifts from Novartis and Pfizer. This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: TTC TCW PHH CPL JSC LYL SJL JWC. Performed the experiments: TTC TCW PHH CPL JSC LYL. Analyzed the data: TTC TCW JSC LYL JWC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TTC TCW PHH CPL JSC LYL SJL JWC. Wrote the paper: TTC TCW JWC.