FIGURE 7.

Caspase-6 is not an apoptosis executor in TAMs. RAW264.7 cells were stimulated with tumor-conditioned medium for 12 or 24 h, respectively. A, relative expression of caspase-6 was up-regulated in TAMs; results were detected by quantitative real time-PCR. B, protein level of pro-Caspase-6 was up-regulated in M2 and TAMs when compared with control, and results were tested by Western blotting assay. C, protein levels of pro-Caspase-6 and cleaved Caspase-6 all were up-regulated in TAMs; results were detected by Western blotting with the specific antibodies. D, enzymatic activity of Caspase-6 was also measured using an enzymatic activity assay kit. E, apoptosis was detected by FLC. The percentages of early or late apoptosis are presented in the lower right and upper right quadrants, respectively. Columns represent the average proportions of apoptotic cells. All bars were expressed as means ± S.D. (p values of plotted data of ≤0.05 were considered statistically significant).