Figure 5.

The knockdown of NOX4 attenuates P. aeruginosa–induced apoptosis in HLMVECs. HLMVECs were transfected with scrambled NOX2 or NOX4 siRNA (50 nM) for 72 hours and treated with PA103 (MOI = 10) for 6 hours. (A) Endothelial cell apoptosis was assessed by TUNEL staining. (B) Apoptosis was quantified by the number of TUNEL-positive cells/field. (C) Cell lysates were Western blotted for cleaved caspase 3, an indicator of apoptosis activation. Images are representative of two independent experiments. *P < 0.05, scRNA + PA or siNOX2 + PA versus siNOX4 + PA. Scale bars, 20 μm. Relative intensity versus actin is depicted. All values represent means ± SDs. *P < 0.05, scRNA + PA or siNOX2 + PA versus siNOX4 + PA.