Protective Effects of Adiponectin against Cobalt Chloride-Induced Apoptosis of Smooth Muscle Cells via cAMP/PKA Pathway

Figure 5

cAMP and PKA inhibition blocked APN-mediated protection against CoCl₂ effects. (a, c–e) The CoCl₂-induced reduction SMCs viability and SOD activity and increase apoptosis and MDA levels were blocked by APN; those effects of APN could be blocked by SQ22536 and H 89. (b) Statistical analysis of the rate of apoptosis in each group. (f) The CoCl₂-induced Bax and cleaved caspase-3 upregulation and Bcl-2 downregulation were blocked by APN, and effects of APN could also be blocked by SQ22536 and H 89. (g) Statistical analysis of the expression of Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3. (h–j) Expression and location of Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase-3 (green) in the SMCs. Blue indicates nuclei as stained by DAPI. Scale bar: 25 μm ( vs. control, vs. control, ^# vs. CoCl₂, ^## vs. CoCl₂, ^& vs. APN+CoCl₂, , data shown as the ). CoCl₂: cobalt chloride; APN: adiponectin; SQ22536: cAMP inhibitor; H 89: PKA inhibitor; SOD: superoxide dismutase; MDA: malondialdehyde; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma 2; Bax: Bcl-2-associated X protein.

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