Research Article

Nicotinic Agonist Inhibits Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in CVB3-Induced Myocarditis via α3β4-nAChR/PI3K/Akt-Dependent Survivin Upregulation

Figure 6

The α3β4-nAChR-related PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is involved in the antiapoptotic effects of a nicotinic agonist in the CVB3-induced apoptosis of NRC. Stimulated by CVB3 for 2 h, NRC were exposed to 25 μM LY294002 and 5 μM α-CTX AuIB for 1 h, respectively, to inhibit PI3K and α3β4-nAChR. 1 μM nicotine was then used to activate nAChRs for 36 h. a vs. the CVB3-infected group. b vs. the nicotine-treated group. (a) Photomicrographs (×100) of apoptotic cells. (b) Quantitative analysis of the number of TUNEL-positive cells. (c-e) The expression of pAkt, survivin, and Cleaved Caspase-3 was measured by western blot.
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