Figure 4.

Significantly elevated DNA damage response in normal and diseased PTEC during high-level oxidative stress. (A) Western blot for E-cadherin, α-SMA, Nrf2 and γ-H2AX in whole cell extracts (20 µg total protein) from normal and diseased PTEC cultured in the absence (0 mM H₂O₂) or presence of low-level (0.4 mM) and high-level (0.8 mM) H₂O₂. Representative data from one of three normal PTEC and one of three diseased PTEC are presented. Full unedited gels available in the Supplementary File. (B–E) Fold changes (relative to 0 mM H₂O₂ cells) in E-cadherin (B), α-SMA (C), Nrf2 (D), and γ-H2AX (E) protein levels in normal and diseased PTEC cultured under low-level (0.4 mM H₂O₂) and high-level (0.8 mM H₂O₂) oxidative stress conditions. The dashed line represents a fold change of 1. Symbols represent individual donor PTEC; n = 3 donor PTEC per group. Horizontal bars represent medians, with interquartile range also presented. * p < 0.05 vs 0 mM H₂O₂, Friedman test with Dunn’s post-test.