Fig. 5

CD133-knockdown decreased cell proliferation and increased apoptosis under the HG condition in HK-2 cells. A the silencing effectiveness of CD133 siRNA was verified by qRT-PCR. B, C The expression of CD133, Vimentin, PCNA and P53 was detected by western blotting after CD133 knockdown. D EdU cell proliferation assay. The proliferation cells were double-labeled for EdU (red) and Hoechst 33342 (blue), Scale bar: 25 μm. E Rate of EdU-positive cells. F The results of real-time cell proliferation assay. G, H The apoptosis of HK-2 cells was analysed by flow cytometry. The total apoptosis rate was the sum of the Q2 and Q3 cell apoptosis ratio. I, J Western blotting analysis of Bax, caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-3 expression in the NG, HG, HG + NC and HG + siCD133 group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 versus the NG group, ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 versus the HG + siCD133 group