Figure 5.

The activation of CPP32 is a very early event of thymocyte apoptosis. (A and B) Thymocytes from C56BL/6 mice were isolated and incubated with dexamethasone. Samples were taken at 30-min intervals and analyzed for levels of apoptosis with annexin V-FITC and PI (A). Cell lysates were submitted to Western blotting analysis for the processing of CPP32 (B). (C) Thymocytes were cultured for 20 h in the presence of immobilized anti-CD3 mAb. Cells were then labeled with annexin V-FITC, and annexin V− and annexin V+ cells were sorted at 4°C with a FACStar^® Plus. Sorted cells were lysed and extract contents were analyzed for processing of CPP32 by Western blotting.