Sulforaphane Upregulates Cultured Mouse Astrocytic Aquaporin-4 Expression through p38 MAPK Pathway

Figure 6

The p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580) attenuated the upregulated expression of AQP4 and the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK pathway of cultured mouse astrocytes treated with 1 μM SFN. (a) Effect of SB203580 on the expression of AQP4 and the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK. (b, c) Quantitative analysis for AQP4 expression (b) and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK (c). Astrocytes were pretreated with p38 MAPK pathway inhibitor, SB203580 (10 μM), for 2 hours prior to treatment with 1 μM SFN. The level of p38 MAPK phosphorylation in the group treated with SB203580 decreased. Astrocytic AQP4 expression and p38 MAPK phosphorylation level were found to be significantly upregulated in the 1 μM SFN treatment group compared to the vehicle treatment group. The upregulated expression of astrocytic AQP4 and phosphorylation level of p38 MAPK were found to be attenuated compared to the group treated with 1 μM SFN when SB203580 was pretreated. .

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