Figure 7.

Effects of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor KN-93 on procaspase-3 and caspase-3 expression in cultured cortical neurons induced by 50 μM NMDA as determined by western blot.

I–VI: Sham, NMDA, 0.5 μM KN-93, NMDA + 0.25 μM KN-93, NMDA + 0.5 μM KN-93, NMDA + 1.0 μM KN-93 groups.

(A) Representative western blot of procaspase-3 (32 kDa) and activated caspase-3 (17 kDa) in cultured cortical neurons exposed to NMDA.

(B) Quantification of procaspase-3 and caspase-3 expression. Procaspase-3 and caspase-3 were determined by calculating the ratio of the absorbance value relative to β-actin.

Data are expressed as mean ± SD, n = 6 for each group. ^aP < 0.01, vs. sham group; ^bP < 0.01, vs. NMDA group using one-way analysis of variance.

NMDA: N-methyl-D-aspartic acid.