Quercetin Protects Ethanol-Induced Hepatocyte Pyroptosis via Scavenging Mitochondrial ROS and Promoting PGC-1α-Regulated Mitochondrial Homeostasis in L02 Cells

Figure 3

Quercetin restored ethanol-induced mitochondrial membrane potential and alleviated mtDNA damage unrelated to apoptosis (a) Representative immunofluorescent images of JC-1 is visible either as JC-1 monomers (green), JC-1 aggregates (red), and both channels merged (200x magnification), whereas more JC-1 aggregates (red) were seen in quercetin treatment while more JC-1 monomers (green) in ethanol group. (b) Relative fluorescence intensity calculated as red to green ratio. (c) Representative immunofluorescence images co-stained with γH2AX (red), Mito-Tracker (green) and both channels merged (400x magnification). The graphs (down panel) show the fluorescence intensity profiles in two fluorescence channels along the arrow, whereas a weaken fluorescence intensity of γH2AX is seen in quercetin treatment and enhanced by ethanol. (d) The mRNA expression that encodes the enzyme (TWNK, MTCO1, and MFND) responsible for mtDNA transcription levels. (e) Western blot analysis of Bax, Bcl2, caspase3, and cleaved-caspase3 protein abundance. Data are expressed as (). Different subscript letters indicate significant differences among the groups ().

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