Figure 6. Effect of p53 stabilization on Akt activation after ionizing radiation treatment.

(A) Western blotting analysis of total Akt and phosphorylated Akt levels, performed on irradiated H295R cells transfected with empty vector (mock) and p53-vector (WT) at 48 and 72 h after transfection. Densitometric analysis of Akt normalized to vinculin and p-Akt versus Akt shows that Akt expression is not influenced by p53 status, while the activated form of the protein is significantly reduced in ^wtp53-expressing cells. (B) Total cell lysates obtained from SW-13 cell line were subjected to Western blotting analysis using antibodies targeting Akt and Akt-pSer473. Phosphorylation levels of Akt are significantly reduced by p53 stabilization in response to ionizing radiation treatment. Results shown are representative of at least three experiments. Bands' intensities were quantified using ImageJ and bands' densitometry is shown in the right panels. (*, p<0.05; #, p<0.01).