Fig. 9.

Increased TUNEL staining was detected in UV- but not FasL-treated CASP3-positive pregnant primary fundal myometrial cells. Pregnant primary fundal myometrial cells were treated by UV and Fas for 24 h and analyzed by fluorescent microscopy after TUNEL staining (green) to detect the presence of cleaved nuclear DNA. Cells were also immunostained for cleaved CASP3 (red), and nuclei were counterstained with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) (blue). Vehicle-treated hTERT cells were used as a negative control. These data are representative of three independent experiments (n = 3).