Figure 7.

Cx43 and purinergic signaling blockade protects podocytes in vitro. (A) TUNEL staining indicates that (B) TGF-β–induced apoptosis is ameliorated by GAP26. (C) Measurements of ATPi levels further confirm the antiapoptotic effect of Cx43 blockade. Results are expressed in relative luminosity units. (D) TGF-β induces activation of P2Y2 receptor mRNA. Blockade of purinergic signaling with suramin (E) limits upregulation of collagen I, integrin-β3, and synaptopodin mRNAs and (F) decreases phosphorylation of pak1/2. Quantitative PCR data are expressed in graphs as arbitrary units (a.u.) that represents the ratio of the target gene to internal control gene (HPRT). *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001.