Figure 4

Western blot analyses of HUVECs lysates for HIF-1α and activated caspase-3 showing the effects of normoxia, A/R, and transfection with scrambled RNA duplexes on cultured HUVECs. Transfection with HIF-1α siRNA duplexes prior to A/R largely attenuated HIF-1α expression, but greatly increased activated caspase-3 expression. The upper panel depicts representative immunoblots demonstrating HIF-1α, activated caspase-3, and β-tubulin protein expression. The middle panel depicts group comparisons of activated caspase-3 immunoblots. The lower panel depicts group comparisons of HIF-1α immunoblots. Results in each category represent mean±s.e.m. of three experiments. (A) Normoxic cultures. (B) Cultures transfected with HIF-1α siRNA duplexes and subjected to A/R. (C) Cultures transfected with scrambled RNA duplexes and subjected to A/R. (D) Nontransfected cultures subjected to A/R. ^*Significantly different (P<0.05) compared with the other three groups. ^‡Significantly different (P<0.05) compared with groups C and D.