Animals.
Wistar rats were purchased from Charles River and used for experiments at 12 to 14 weeks of age. C57Bl/6J mice were purchased from Janvier and used for experiments at 8 to 15 weeks of age. Mice lacking the α1-subunit of sGC — and thus α1β1-sGC (α1-GC KO mice) — were generated and genotyped as described previously (