Figure 4

Role of the MAPK pathway in AGE-HSA induced apoptosis in ADSCs. The effect of a p38 MAPK inhibitor on apoptosis and caspase-3 activity in ADSCs induced by AGE-HSA. (A, B) Pre-treatment with a p38 inhibitor (SB203580) significantly reduced AGE-HSA induced increase in apoptosis and caspase-3 activity. (C,E, G) Representative western blot images showing protein expression of phosphorylated p38, ERK and JNK (p-p38, p-ERK and p-JNK). (D, F, H) Densitometric analyses of Western blots showing the level of p-p38, p-ERK and p-JNK as a percentage of total p38, ERK and JNK. Each value is expressed as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 vs. control (HSA 300 μg/ml); # p < 0.05 vs. AGE-HSA group.