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. 2019 May 10;20(9):2314. doi: 10.3390/ijms20092314

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Pioglitazone increases anti-oxidant activity through the proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha cellular prion protein (PGC-1α-PrPC) axis. (A) Expression of proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α) and cellular prion protein (PrPC) in MSCs isolated from healthy individuals (healthy-MSCs), tunicamycin-treated healthy-MSCs (5 μg/mL for 4 h), and CKD-MSCs; (B) The expression levels were determined relative to expression levels of β-actin. Values represent the mean ± SEM. ** p < 0.01 versus healthy-MSC, ## p < 0.01 versus tunicamycin-treated healthy-MSCs (healthy-MSC + Tuni.); (C) Expression of PGC-1α and PrPC in pioglitazone-treated CKD-MSCs (5 μM for 24 h); (D) The expression levels were determined relative to the expression levels of β-actin. Values represent the mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 versus non-treated CKD-MSCs; (E) Expression of PGC-1α and PrPC after treatment with pioglitazone (Pio.) and PGC-1α short interfering (si)RNA (si-PGC-1α); (F) The expression levels were determined relative to the expression levels of β-actin. Values represent the mean ± SEM. ** p < 0.01 versus non-treated CKD-MSCs, # p < 0.05 versus pioglitazone-treated CKD-MSCs, $$ p < 0.01 versus pioglitazone-treated CKD-MSCs pretreated with si-PGC-1α; (G) Expression of PrPC in healthy-MSCs and CKD-MSCs after treatment with pioglitazone and PRNP siRNA (si-PRNP); (H) The expression levels were determined relative to the expression levels of β-actin. Values represent the mean ± SEM. ** p < 0.01 versus healthy-MSCs, # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01 versus non-treated CKD-MSCs, $$ p < 0.01 versus pioglitazone-treated CKD-MSCs pretreated with si-PRNP; (I,J) Analysis of superoxide dismutase (SOD) (I) and catalase activity (J) in healthy-MSCs and CKD-MSCs after treatment with pioglitazone and si-PRNP. Values represent the mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 versus healthy-MSCs, ## p < 0.01 versus non-treated CKD-MSCs, $$ p < 0.01 versus pioglitazone-treated CKD-hMSCs pretreated with si-PRNP. Legend: si-Scr, scrambled siRNA.