VDR activation suppressed ferroptosis in HG‐cultured HK‐2 cells. The mitochondrial morphology of HK‐2 cells was visualized by TEM. The arrow indicates microscopic changes in mitochondria. Absolute counting of the number of cristae per mitochondria. Scale bar = 2 or 0.5 µm (A). Quantitative analysis of iron (B), MDA (C), and GSH (D) levels in each cell group. The relative mRNA levels of SLC7A11, GPX4, TFRC,F
TH1, and AIFM2 in different groups of HK‐2 cells were determined by qRT‐PCR. ACTB served as a loading control (E). Western blotting was applied to detect the protein expression levels of SLC7A11, GPX4, TFR‐1, FTH‐1, and FSP1, followed by densitometric analysis of the blots. β‐actin served as a loading control (F). Immunofluorescence staining and fluorescence intensity analysis of SLC7A11, GPX4, and TFR‐1 in different groups of HK‐2 cells as indicated. Scale bar = 20 µm (G). Each bar represents the mean ± SD of the data derived from three independent experiments (n = 3). **
p < 0.01 versus NG group; #
p < 0.05, ##
p < 0.01 versus HG group; &
p < 0.05, &&
p < 0.01 versus HG group.