Skip to main content
. 2014 Jan 21;9(1):e85785. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0085785

Figure 4. Ghrelin mediated myocardium protection by down-regulating caspase-3.

Figure 4

(A) The expression of caspase-3 mRNA by real-time quantitative PCR. The total RNA of noninfarcted left ventricular tissue was extracted using TRIzol Reagent, and real-time quantitative PCR was performed to determine the caspase-3 mRNA levels. The data are presented as the means ± SD. **P<0.01 vs. SO group, ##P<0.01 vs. MI group. (B) The expression of caspase-3 in rat cardiac tissues examined by immunohistochemical staining (×200). (C) Analysis of caspase-3 mRNA levels in cardiomyocytes by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. After the addition of 0.1 µmol/L ghrelin, 0.1 µmol/L Ang II, 0.1 µmol/L ghrelin + 0.1 µmol/L Ang II, or culture medium (control), the cardiomyocytes were cultured for 24 hours. Real-time quantitative PCR was performed to determine the mRNA levels. The data are presented as the means ± SD. **P<0.01 vs. control group; ##P<0.01 vs. Ang II group. (D) Detection of caspase-3 protein expression in rat cardiomyocytes by immunocytochemical staining. After the addition of 0.1 µmol/L ghrelin, 0.1 µmol/L Ang II, 0.1 µmol/L ghrelin + 0.1 µmol/L Ang II, or culture medium (control), the cardiomyocytes were cultured for 24 hours. Magnification: ×200.