Fig. 7.

Schwann cells transfected with a plasmid encoding PDNF are protected from apoptosis induced by TNF-α and TGF-β. Sc-Red and Sc-PDNF cells were left untreated or were pretreated with the Akt inhibitor Akti VIII (10 µM), cultured for 4 days in DMEM, 1% BSA containing TNF-α (20 ng/ml) and TGF-β1 (40 ng/ml), and analyzed for apoptosis by the TUNEL assay (as described for Fig. 6). (A) Micrographs: original magnification, × 1000. (B) Apoptosis was quantified as percent of the total number of cells that were TUNEL-positive as revealed by DAPI staining. ***P < 0.001 from three experiments.