Fig 2: Effect of LHQW on p53-mediated intrinsic apoptosis. (A) Representative Western blot images of p53, Bax and Bcl-2. (B) Representative Western blot images of caspase-3 and caspase-9. (C–G) Comparison of the gray values of all proteins in mice by ImageJ software (with GAPDH loading control). (H) Representative Western blot images of cytochrome C in mitochondria and cytosol. (I,J) Comparison of the gray values of cytochrome C in mitochondria and cytosol in mice by ImageJ software (with GAPDH and VADC loading controls). LPS, 5 mg/kg; LHQW, 1,400 mg/kg/day; p53 inhibitor, pifithrin-a (3 mg/kg/day). Data are shown as mean ± SD from one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test. * p < 0.05, versus Control; # p < 0.05, versus LPS.

Fig 3: Silencing of ALOX5 promotes cell cycle progression and suppresses cell apoptosis in HG-induced SV40 MES-13 cells. (A) The HG-induced SV40 MES-13 cells were transfected with si-ALOX5 or si-control, and the cell cycle distribution of each group was assessed by flow cytometric analysis. The green region indicates the G1 phase; the yellow region indicates the S phase; the blue region indicates the G2 phase. (B) The cell apoptosis rate of each group was evaluated by flow cytometric analysis. (C) The expression of apoptosis-related proteins, including Bcl-2, Bax and cleaved caspase-3, were assessed using western blotting. ***P<0.001 vs. NG; ##P<0.01 and ###P<0.001 vs. HG + si-control. ALOX5, 5-lipoxygenase; HG, high glucose; si-, siRNA; NG, normal glucose.