Research Article

Caspase-14 Expression Impairs Retinal Pigment Epithelium Barrier Function: Potential Role in Diabetic Macular Edema

Figure 7

Increased apoptosis in RPE cells cultured under HG conditions or overexpressing caspase-14. Both high glucose treatment and caspase-14 transfected cells showed significantly increased levels of apoptosis compared with cells under NG or expressing control vector ( ). Caspase-14 knockdown by siRNA reduced the number of apoptotic RPE cells under HG conditions. However, the number of apoptotic cells was higher than the control ( versus HG). Cell transfected with control plasmid had no significant difference in apoptosis compared with control ( ; ).
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