Figure 3. The role of antioxidants and ALDH in the stress resistance of murine ALDH^hi myoblasts.

(a) When the antioxidant levels of ALDH^hi myoblasts were decreased by treatment with diethyl maleate (DEM), their proliferation rate was decreased to that of ALDH^lo myoblasts (n = 5). (* indicates p<0.05 at a given timepoint.) (b) By increasing the antioxidant levels of ALDH^lo cells with XJB prior to oxidative stress (H₂O₂, 250 µM) exposure, the proliferation rate in oxidative stress was increased to the levels observed in ALDH^hi myoblasts. (c) DEAB (50 µM) treatment of ALDH^hi murine myoblasts significantly decreased their proliferative rate in the absence of oxidative stress compared to untreated ALDH^hi myoblasts. (d) However, DEAB treatment had no statistically significant effect on the oxidative stress (H₂O₂, 250 µM) resistance of ALDH^hi myoblasts in terms of proliferation with the exception of an isolated data point at 24 hrs (p = 0.034).