Figure 6. Inhibition of EPO receptor (EPOR) in H9c2 myoblasts.

A, left, representative micrograph showing that EPOR was expressed in H9c2 cells. Right, negative picture shows the specificity of EPOR immunoreactivity demonstrated by preadsorption of EPOR antibody with blocking peptide. B, representative micrographs showing cell morphology by phase-contrast in control (untreated) cells, cells treated with 5 U ml⁻¹ of EPO (+EPO), or combination with 5 U ml⁻¹ of EPO and 30 ng ml⁻¹ of EPOR antibody (+EPO/+EPOR-ab) at 400× magnification. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Horizontal bar = 10 μm. Bar graph shows cell viability in different treatments by LDH. C, representative blots in the upper panel showing pAkt, Akt (left), pERK, and ERK (right) expression. Lower bar graph shows the ratio of DU of phosphorylated and total protein for n = 4. *P < 0.05 compared to the untreated group. †P < 0.05 compared to the EPO-treated group.