Figure 7.
NFATc2 silencing inhibits hypoxia-induced cell proliferation. HPF cells were infected with a lentivirus expressing NFATc2 shRNA or vector control (VC) at an MOI of 100 and exposed to normoxia (21% O2) and hypoxia (1% O2) for 6 days. (A) Microscopic images of bright fields and green fluorescence protein (GFP) of blank control (BC), vector control (VC) and NFATc2 shRNA-treated cells. Scale Bar: 50 µm. (B) Western blot showing NFATc2 silencing. (C) Quantitation of NFATc2 levels was performed with ImageJ software. Data were normalized to VC. Values represent means ± SE. **p < 0.05 vs. VC. (D) Cell proliferation by BrdU assay. Cells were incubated with BrdU for 12 hrs. Data were normalized to the blank at normoxia. The absorbance values at normoxia were 0.09 ± 0.03 and 0.13 ± 0.01 for day 3 and day 6, respectively. Values represent means ± SE. **p < 0.01 vs. normoxia. ##p < 0.01, # # #p < 0.001 vs VC at normoxia. $p < 0.05, $$p < 0.01 vs VC at hypoxia. n = 3 independent experiments.