Fig. 6.

In vivo experiments prove that PQ induced cell intoxication by regulating Keap1/p65/Nrf2 signal pathway. Wild-type C57BL/6 male mice were intraperitoneal injected with saline or 500 μM of PQ and euthanized after 96 h. a, b Western Blot was used to verify and quantify the efficiency of p65 overexpression and Nrf2 knock-out in the lung tissues of the male C57BL/6 mice. c Masson staining was employed to observe the morphologies of the lung tissues of mice treated with PQ (500 μM, 96 h). d The relative mRNA expressions of inflammatory cytokines were detected by real-time qPCR in mice lung tissues and normalized by GAPDH. e The expressions of inflammatory cytokines in the periphery blood of the mice were detected by ELISA. f, g Cell apoptosis-associated proteins were detected and quantified in the mice lung tissues. h, i Cell cycle-associated proteins were detected and quantified in the mice lung tissues. Each assay had at least 3 repetitions (the data are presented as mean ± SD, “*” means statistical significance, p < 0.05).