Fig. 5. Nrf2 activator (sulforaphane, SFN) reversed the inhibitory effects of uranium on the levels of Nrf2, CBS and CSE protein expression, H2S synthesizing activity, and endogenous H2S generation in the normal rat kidney proximal cells (NRK-52E). Uranium-exposed kidney cells were treated with SFN (5 mM) during the final 8 h of uranium (400 μM) intoxication for 24 h. Representative western blots and group data showed the protein abundance of Nrf2 (A and B), and CBS and CSE (C and D) expression in the kidney cells. Nrf2 was examined in the nuclear and cytosolic fractions. Histone H1 and β-actin were used as the nuclear and cytosolic loading controls, respectively. H2S synthesizing activity in the kidney cells (E) and endogenous H2S content in the cell culture supernatant (F) were measured as described in the “Materials and methods” section. Values are expressed as the mean ± SE (n = 5). An asterisk represents a significant difference between cells treated with uranium alone and untreated cells; a sharp sign represents a significant difference between cells treated with uranium alone and uranium pulsing SFN treated cells (two-way ANOVA, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, #P < 0.05).
