Figure 1: Vitamin E promotes membrane repair in vitro.

(a) C2C12 cells were cultured for 18 h in a medium with or without 200 μM α-tocopherol, washed free of exogenous vitamin and immediately subjected to laser wounding in the presence or absence of calcium (added at 1.2 mM to PBS). Micrographs were taken before injury in FM 1-43 dye (time=0 s; the red arrowheads mark laser disruption sites) and imaged at 30 and 300 s after injury. (b) Quantitation of FM 1-43 dye influx over time after laser injury. C2C12 cells loaded with α-tocopherol (blue squares) before wounding displayed a significant (P<0.01; n=16) reduction in dye uptake after injury compared with non-treated controls (black dots); data for cells injured in the absence of added calcium is also presented (red triangles). (c) HeLa cells were loaded with 200 μM α-tocopherol for 24 h before laser analysis. Cells treated with α-tocopherol (blue squares) displayed a significant (P<0.001; n=15) reduction in dye uptake compared with control, untreated cells (black dots); data is also shown for cells treated with α-tocopherol and injured in the absence of added calcium (red triangles). Data are presented as the mean±s.e.m. Scale bars 20 μm.