Fig. 5: Exosomal HCG15 released from hypoxic cells promoted cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the production of inflammatory cytokines via the NF-κB/p65 and p38 pathways.

A Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of NF-κB/p65, JNK, ERK, and p38 signaling pathway molecules in AC16 cells after the indicated treatments. AC16 cells were incubated with Exo-H and subsequently treated with PDTC (0.1 mg/ml) or PD169316 (10 μmol/l), and MTT assays (B) were used to detect cell proliferation. TUNEL staining (C) and flow cytometry (D) were performed to measure cell apoptosis, and the magnification was 200 ×. E ELISA was used to measure the level of inflammatory cytokines. *p value < 0.05, ***p value < 0.001. Each assay was performed in triplicate.