Fig. 7.
DEA-NO attenuates IL-1-induced caspase-3 activity. RINm5F cells (2.0 × 105 cells/400 μl RPMI) were pretreated with 10 U/ml IL-1 for 36 h. l-NMMA (2 mM) was added, and the cells were cultured for an additional 8 h, and caspase activity was determined and set at 100%. To determine whether exogenous nitric oxide inhibits caspase activation under these conditions, DEA-NO (500 μM) was added following the cytokine and l-NMMA incubations, and the cells were cultured for an additional 2 h followed by determination of caspase-3 activity. Results are the average ± SE of 3 independent experiments (statistically significant inhibition; *P < 0.05).