Figure 2. Accumulation of misfolded proteins induces mild ER stress.
(A and C) Immunoblots of IRE1α and PERK in HEK293T cells transfected with the indicated plasmids for 24 h. NHK, the unfolded form of α1-antitrypsin; p97-QQ, dominant negative form of p97-WT. ER-dsRed and GFP, negative control plasmids. HSP90, a position and loading control. (B and D) Quantitation of percent of phosphorylated IRE1α in total IRE1α protein in Phos-tag gels shown in A, C. Values are mean ± SEM *, P<0.05 using unpaired two-tailed Student's t-test. Representative data from at least three independent experiments shown.