Figure 1.

Cobalt chloride (CoCl₂) induces retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) apoptosis. (A) Cell viability detected by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay in RGCs treated with indicated concentrations of CoCl₂ for 24 h. Data are means ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 vs. basal level. (B,C) Expression of cleaved caspase-3, bax and bcl-2 detected by Western blotting in RGCs treated with indicated concentrations of CoCl₂ for 24 h. The corresponding densitometric analyses of the protein bands detected in the immunoblots and normalized to the signal of α-tubulin are also shown. The level of protein in each group was expressed as the value relative to the control. Data are means ± SD of three independent experiments. **p < 0.01, compared with the control. (D,E) Cell apoptosis detected by Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) staining methods in RGCs treated with indicated concentrations of CoCl₂ for 24 h. The C3 quadrant (Annexin V−/PI−), C4 quadrant (Annexin V + /PI−) and C2 quadrant (Annexin V + /PI+) indicate the percentage of viable cells, apoptotic cells and necrotic cells, respectively. The percentage of apoptotic cells following CoCl₂ treatment compared with the control group. Values represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. **P < 0.01.