Oxidative Stress Aggravates Apoptosis of Nucleus Pulposus Cells through m⁶A Modification of MAT2A Pre-mRNA by METTL16

Figure 5

Increased apoptosis of human NPCs under oxidative stress can be rescued by reducing the expression of METTL16 in the cells. Human NPCs were transfected with METTL16 siRNA. (a) qRT-PCR analysis for transfection efficiency. (b) The cells were then stimulated with TBHP (100 μm, 4 hours). And qRT-PCR was employed to detect different fragments of MAT2A pre-mRNA. (c) MAT2A protein detected by immunofluorescence. (d) The protein expression levels of METTL16, MAT2A, Bcl2, Bax, and cleaved Caspase3 were detected by Western blot in cells with METTL16 siRNA and under TBHP stimulation. (e) Flow cytometry for the apoptosis rate of the NPCs. replicates per group, , ,

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