Fig. 4.

Ad-HSV1TK/GCV treatment significantly increased caspase-3 activity in Eker rat uterine leiomyomata at all selected time points when compared with the Ad-LacZ-treated group (A). The number of apoptotic cells were significantly increased, which is indicated by an increase in positive TUNEL reactions in tissue sections prepared from Ad-HSV1TK/GCV-treated animals when compared with either control or Ad-LacZ/GCV-treated tumor sections (B). Caspase-3 activity was normalized against the total protein content of each tissue measured by BCA kit. Caspase-3 activity was represented as percentage of control. Apoptotic cells are represented as a percentage of total cells in the field (C). ^a Significant difference from Ad-LacZ/GCV at p < 0.001 using a 2-tailed unpaired t test in the caspase-3 activity experiment. ^{b, c} Significant difference from sections treated with either control or Ad-LacZ/GCV at p < 0.05 using the Tukey test as a post-ANOVA test.