Fig. 3.
Effect of the GNR-siRNAD nanoplex on DARPP-32 protein expression in DAN cells. Western blot analysis of DARPP-32 protein from lysates of DAN cells following their treatment in vitro with GNR-siRNAD nanoplexes (lane 2) and both siPORT positive control (lane 3) and negative control (lane 1), at 120 h posttransfection. Panel A shows data from a representative Western blot experiment showing (i) no change in b-actin (42-kDa band) protein expression and (ii) a significant decrease in DARPP-32 (32-kDa band) protein expression, in cells treated with the GNR-siRNAD nanoplex (lane 2), as opposed to cells treated with negative control (siPORT-scrambled siRNA, lane 1). Panel B is a graphical representation of the densitometric analysis of the DARPP-32 protein band showing percentage decrease in the DARPP-32 protein expression in cells treated with GNR-siRNAD and siPORT-siRNAD, when compared with that in cells treated with siPORT-scrambled siRNA (negative control, 100% DARPP-32 expression). Data shown are mean ± SD of results from 3 separate experiments, and statistical significance was determined using ANOVA. Results show a significant decrease in DARPP-32 protein expression in the GNR-siRNAD-treated cells (66.8% decrease), significantly higher than that obtained from siPORT-siRNAD-treated cells (29.7% decrease).