Figure 2.

Mitochondria can be protected from oxidative damage by activating the Pkm2/Nrf2 signaling pathway. (A (i) and (ii)) The production of mtROS after treated for Pkm2 expression plasmid in A549 cells. (B–D) Changes in mitochondrial membrane potential, and enzymatic activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes I and III. (E and F) The activity of T-SOD and GSH-Px with Pkm2 expression plasmid. (G) Western blot analysis for assessing the effects of Pkm2/Nrf2 signaling pathway including Pkm2, Nrf2, GCLC, and GCLM in A549 cells following Pkm2 expression plasmid transfection. All data are represented as mean ± SD (n=3). * and ** indicate P < 0.05 and P < 0.01.