Figure 5.

KLF4 plays a negative regulatory role on apelin expression in LX-2 cells. All experiments were performed in triplicate. (a, b) LX-2 cells were infected with pAd-null or pAd-KLF4 for 24 h or were transfected with si-NS or si-KLF4 for 24 h. Cells were then treated with TNF-α (10 ng/mL) for 24 h. Total cellular RNA was transcribed with reverse transcriptase and amplified by PCR. GAPDH was used as an internal control. (c, d) Crude proteins extracted from the treated cells were analyzed using Western blotting with anti-apelin, anti-KLF4, and anti-β-actin antibodies. β-Actin was used as a loading control.