Fig. 8

Effect of EX527 on apoptosis in NQO1 pcDNA-treated HK-2 cells under HG conditions. A–C The protein levels of Bax, Bcl-2 and Cleaved Caspase-3 were analyzed by western blotting (n = 3). D–G The protein expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2 and Cleaved Caspase-3 were measured by immunofluorescence (scale bar, 50 μm, n = 6). D Apoptosis of HK-2 cells was determined by TUNEL assays (Scale bar, 50 μm, n = 6). H The percentage of TUNEL-positive cells per field (× 400). HG: 30 mM d‐glucose, HG + C: HG + control pcDNA3.1(+), HG + NQO1 O/E: HG + NQO1 pcDNA3.1(+), HG + NQO1 O/E + EX527: HG + NQO1 pcDNA3.1(+) + EX527 (1 μM). Values are expressed as the mean ± SD. **P < 0.01 versus HG + C group; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01 versus HG + NQO1 O/E group