Figure 3.

11R-DEP: 611–628 induced the apoptosis of HepG2 cells. The TUNEL staining results indicated that the 11R-DEP: 611–628 (3 µM) peptide treatment caused a significant increase in the apoptosis of HepG2 cells. (A) Representative images of TUNEL staining. (B) Quantitative analysis results of TUNEL staining. ***P<0.001. (C) The western blot analysis results demonstrated that the caspase-3 levels in cells treated with the 11R-DEP: 611–628 (3 µM) peptide were notably decreased, while the cleaved caspase-3 levels were markedly increased, compared with those in the cells treated with the scramble peptide. TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling.