Figure 4.

NAC pretreatment decreases H₂O₂-induced oxidation of PTEN and increases phosphorylation of AKT. N-ethylmaleimide-alkylated redox western blotting was performed to detect the redox state of (A-D) PTEN. (B and D) Reduced and oxidized forms of PTEN were semi-quantified using ImageJ software. Data are presented as the means ± standard deviation (n=3). (E) Western blotting was performed to detect total and p-AKT. (F) p-AKT was semi-quantified using ImageJ software. Data are presented as the means ± standard deviation (n=3). ^**P<0.01, ^***P<0.001 as indicated, or vs. 0 h H₂O₂ group. AKT, protein kinase B; H₂O₂, hydrogen peroxide; NAC, N-acetylcysteine; p, phosphorylated; PTEN, phosphatase and tensin homolog.