Research Article

Smad7 Is Highly Expressed in Human Degenerative Discs and Participates in IL-1β-Induced Apoptosis of Rat AF Cells via the Mitochondria Pathway

Figure 2

IL-1β increases the expression of Smad7 in rat AF cells along with apoptosis. (a) Western blotting assays to detect the protein expression of cleaved-caspase 9 and cleaved-caspase 3 in AF cells treated with IL-1β. (b) qRT-PCR assays to detect the mRNA expression of Smad7 in AF cells treated with IL-1β for various times (0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 48 h). (c) Western blotting assays to detect the protein expression of Smad7 in AF cells treated with IL-1β for various times (0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 48 h). values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. . All experiments were performed at least three times.
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