Figure 1.

Effects of H/R on the apoptosis and pro-BDNF expression among MMECs exposed to HG. (a, b) Representative images of the TUNEL assay of MMECs exposed to HG without (control) or with (H/R group) H/R. (c) The percentage of TUNEL-positive cells. H/R significantly increased the percentage of TUNEL-positive cells among MMECs, indicating the induction of apoptosis. (d, e) Immunostaining results on the pro-BDNF protein expression and a TUNEL assay. (f, g) Representative Western blots and quantitative analysis of pro-BDNF protein. H/R markedly increased the expression of pro-BDNF. The data were analyzed by the t-test. The error bars represent SEM. ^∗P < 0.05 as compared with the control group.