FIGURE 2.

Spontaneous ER stress correlates with reduced expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-x(L) in β-cells. A, representative immunoblot comparing iPLA₂β in wild-type and Akita (AK) β-cells. B, WT and Akita β-cell lines were cultured for 8 h, and RNA was then extracted and RT-PCR used to amplify Bcl-x splice variants. Shown are a representative experiment (inset) and quantification of Bcl-x(L)/Bcl-x(S) ratio in three independent experiments. C, islets were harvested from wild-type (WT) and Akita (AK) mice. RNA was extracted and RT-PCR used to amplify murine Bcl-x splice variants. Two independent experiments are shown. Each quantification is presented as mean ± S.E. (*, Akita (AK) group is significantly different form the WT group, p < 0.05.)