Figure 6. T-oligo protects fibroblasts from oxidative damage.

Newborn fibroblasts were processed as per Materials and Methods, and cells were then treated with 25 μM fresh H₂O₂ or diluent for one hour and then provided fresh medium without T-oligos. Cell yields were determined 8, 16, 24 and 48 hours later. Fibroblasts pretreated with T-oligo and then diluent proliferated more slowly than diluent pretreated cells (p< 0.0001), as expected, given the initial T-oligo induced S-phase arrest[13], but both showed exponential growth after the first 24 hours. Interestingly, fibroblasts pretreated with T-oligo and then challenged with H₂O₂ proliferated significantly better than diluent pretreated H₂O₂-challenged fibroblasts (p< 0.006). Data points are the mean ± SEM for 3 separate experiments with different donor cells.