Impaired Mitochondrial Fusion and Oxidative Phosphorylation Triggered by High Glucose Is Mediated by Tom22 in Endothelial Cells

Figure 4

Effects of Tom22 downregulation on the expression of genes regulating mitochondrial dynamics and on apoptosis in HUVECs. (a) Western blot and quantification analysis of the expression of proteins regulating mitochondrial dynamics. The expression of Mfn1 decreased significantly, but the expression of both Fis1 and Mff increased significantly. No significant change in the level of Mfn2, Opa1, or Drp1 was found (). (b) Representative Western blot and quantification analysis of the level of proteins that involve in OXPHOS (). (c) The total ATP level was significantly decreased with Tom22 knockdown (). (d) The MMP was significantly decreased in HUVECs with Tom22 knockdown (). (e) Apoptosis was significantly increased after Tom22 knockdown (). (, , and vs. NC). NC: negative control; Tom22 siRNA: HUVECs transfected with Tom22 siRNA to knock down the expression of Tom22. All data are presented as .

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