Apigenin Attenuates Atherogenesis through Inducing Macrophage Apoptosis via Inhibition of AKT Ser473 Phosphorylation and Downregulation of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-2

Figure 4

PAI-2 inhibited apoptosis of MPM. (a) PAI-2 siRNA increased apoptosis of MPMs. After 24 hours of transfection with siRNA against PAI-2, cells were treated with apigenin (50 μM) or DMSO (0.1%) for 48 h after 1 h pretreatment with OxLDL (50 μg/mL). Protein expressions of PAI-2, caspase-3, Mcl-1, Bcl-2, and Bax expression were examined by Western blotting. -actin was included as a loading control. (b) PAI-2 overexpression lowered the apoptosis rate induced by apigenin. The protein expression level of PAI-2 was examined by Western blotting. Results of Western blotting shown in (a) and (b) are the representative of three independent experiments. MPM apoptosis was determined by flow cytometric analysis of cells double stained with Annexin V/PI. The percentage of apoptotic cells was presented as the mean ± S.E.M of three independent experiments. .

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