Figure 5. Effects of DEHP on the ERK and Akt pathways in vitro.
NAC, small interfering RNA (k-Ras siRNA) and inhibitors (U0126 and wortmannin) were utilized in cells. (A) DEHP induced the ERK (5 min) and Akt (10 and 20 min) pathways. (B) DEHP (400 μM) displayed maximum induced effects on p-ERK and p-Akt. (C) NAC antagonized the induced effects of DEHP on the ERK and Akt pathways. (D) In k-Ras-silenced cells, p-ERK and p-Akt protein levels were suppressed. (E) U0126 inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK. (F) The phosphorylation of Akt was inhibited by wortmannin (Wort.). Error bars represent the standard deviation. *P < 0.05, compared with the control. #P < 0.05, compared with the DEHP-treated group.