Figure 6.

A: Expression of β₁ integrin is down-regulated after stimulation with superoxide anions. Time course of β₁ integrin expression after stimulation with X/XO or vehicle. There is a significant down-regulation of β₁ integrin after 48 hours of stimulation with X/XO compared to vehicle-treated cells. Values were normalized with corresponding controls. All transblots were stained with Ponceau solution to prove equal amounts of protein were loaded on the membrane. In addition blots were reprobed with α-actin (data not shown) (n = 5 to 6, values are means ± SEM, *P < 0.05 versus control, t-test). B: Proliferation profiles of differentiated CFSE-loaded podocytes after stimulation with either H₂O₂ (250 μmol/L) or X/XO (50 μmol/L/50 mU/ml) for 48 hours. There was nearly no cell division detectable after 48 hours of stimulation in either group, indicating that H₂O₂ or X/XO does not induce cell proliferation and dedifferentiation in these cells.