Fig. 8

Effects of AMPKα siRNA on mitochondrial biogenesis and podocyte apoptosis in BSTL treated podocytes under HG conditions. A Representative western blots of p-AMPKαT172 and total AMPKα in podocytes and quantitation of these results. B Immunofluorescence staining of podocytes for p-AMPKαT172 in different groups, then assessed quantitatively for them (× 400, × 2000). Scale bar, 30 µm. C Representative western blots images and quantitation of siAMPKα expression in podocytes after the indicated treatments. D Representative western blots and quantitative assessment of PGC-1α, MFN2, and TFAM in podocytes after silenced AMPKα. E Representative flow cytometry analysis depicting the detection of apoptosis in podocytes with different treatments, and quantitative data expressing the overall percentage of podocyte apoptosis (Q2 represented the ratio of late apoptotic cells, Q3 represented the ratio of early apoptotic cells, Q2 + Q3 represented the total ratio of the apoptotic cells). ^*P < 0.05 vs. NG; ^**P < 0.01 vs. NG; ^#P < 0.05 vs. HG; ^##P < 0.01 vs. HG; ^▲P < 0.05 vs. HG + B; ^▲▲P < 0.01 vs. HG + B. NG, normal glucose; HG, high glucose; HG + B, high glucose combined with BSTL drug-containing serum. siAMPKα + B, silenced AMPKα in HG condition and treated with BSTL drug-containing serum