Drp-1 as Potential Therapeutic Target for Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Vascular Hyperpermeability

Figure 4

Overexpression of Drp-1 prevented LPS-induced endothelial hyperpermeability, which was blocked by 3MA. PMVECs transfected with Drp-1 plasmid (a null-plasmid was used as the control) were exposed to LPS (500 ng/ml) and treated with 3MA (5 mM) or a vehicle for 24 h. (a) Cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9 levels were measured using Western blotting. (b) Quantification of cleaved caspase-3 expression using densitometry. (c) Quantification of cleaved caspase-9 expression using densitometry. (d) Apoptosis in cells was assessed using TUNEL staining. Scale bars, 50 μm. (e) The number of TUNEL-positive cells per field. (f) FITC-dextran assessment of the permeability of an endothelial cell monolayer. The represent the data ( in each group). An asterisk () indicates vs. the various groups. Drp-1: Dynamin-related protein-1; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; 3MA: 3-Methyladenine; FITC: fluorescein isothiocyanate; TUNEL: terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick-end labeling.

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