Figure 9. Knockout of Hebp1 in neurons is neuroprotective against hemin and/or Aβ₄₂-induced neuronal cell death.

(A) Wildtype, control and Hebp1-deficient neurons were treated with 10 µM hemin or 10 µM Aβ₄₂ oligomers or both simultaneously (10 µM each). Apoptotic cells were observed for caspase 3/7 activation via fluorescence staining (see Materials and methods). Hebp1-deficient neurons showcased resistance to apoptosis upon heme and/or Aβ₄₂ overload, with wildtype and control neurons exhibiting opposing effects of highly elevated caspase 3/7 activity. (B) Quantification of the data represented by the images shown in (A). All bar charts represent mean ± SEM. Statistical significance in the datasets was assessed by two-way ANOVA followed with Bonferroni corrections for individual pairs of samples: ****p<0.001. All data shown are representative of results obtained from three independent experiments.