Fig. 9.

Western blot analysis for detection of interferon (IFN)-γ-mediated caspase-3 activation and consecutive cleavage of poly-adenosine diphosphate-ribose-polymerase (PARP) after caspase inhibition. Caco-2 cells were stimulated for 48 h with IFN-γ (100 ng/ml) and the caspase-3 inhibitor Z-DEVD-FMK alone or in combination. One representative experiment of three is shown. The activation of caspase-3 and consecutive cleavage of PARP were detected using Western blot analysis (a). Caco-2 cells cultured for 48 h in serum-free medium were used as controls. After performing Western blotting the caspase-3 activity was also measured semiquantitatively using densitometry and was correlated with β-actin expression (b). Results after stimulation with IFN-γ were determined as 100%.