Moxibustion Reduces Ovarian Granulosa Cell Apoptosis Associated with Perimenopause in a Natural Aging Rat Model

Figure 4

Involvement of FOXO1 in GC apoptosis associated with perimenopause. (a) Western blot detection of FOXO1, p-FOXO1, p-JAK2, JAK2, p-STAT3, and STAT3 protein levels in ovary tissues of natural aged perimenopausal rats. MWM downregulated FOXO1 and upregulated p-FOXO and activated the JAK2/STAT3 pathway. (b)–(d) GCs were cultured in DMEM/F12 medium containing 10% serum from the different perimenopausal model groups and young rats. (b) Effect of MWM and FOXO1 overexpression on GC apoptosis induced by natural aging rat serum assessed by flow cytometry. The rate of GC apoptosis was expressed as the mean ± SD. : versus control group, : versus young group; ; . (c) Western blots analysis of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and the proapoptotic proteins Bax and caspase-3. (d) Western blot analysis of FOXO1, p-FOXO1, and JAK/STAT pathway protein levels. β-actin was used as the positive (loading) control. Representative images from three independent experiments are shown.

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