Excess Hydrocortisone Hampers Placental Nutrient Uptake Disrupting Cellular Metabolism

Figure 5

Assessment of hydrocortisone-induced cellular death by apoptosis in healthy-term placental explants. (a) Representative microphotographs of TUNEL assay to determine apoptosis in each experimental condition; cells undergoing apoptosis present fluorescent green nuclei. (b) Quantification of the % of TUNEL positive cells per condition. (c) Active caspases 3 and 7 as measured by luminometry, using the Caspase Glo Assay. (d) Cleaved caspase 3 as determined by western blot and normalized by actin levels. Values are presented as means ± SEM for 5 independent experiments. p≤0.05; p≤0.01; p≤0.001 relative to control.

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