Figure 2.

Caspase-3 inhibition protects against renal injury in diabetic mice. Kidney slides stained with hematoxylin-eosin solution to assess glomerular mesangial expansion and tubular injury (A), and semi-quantify tubulointerstitial injury (C). Slides underwent Masson trichrome staining for the evaluation of tubulointerstitial fibrosis (A). Graph summarizing results of determining the area of blue staining (D). (B) Representative images of immunohistochemistry stained with anti-GSDME and anti-collagen I antibodies. (Negative control included, using a nonspecific primary antibody; Neg. control). Graphs summarizing data of integrated optical density (IOD) of positive GSDME (E) and collagen I (F) staining. (G) Schematic representation showing that caspase-3 inhibition by Z-DEVD-FMK plays an important role in protecting mice from DN possibly via regulating GSDME cleavage. Scale bar=100 μm. Data are represented as means ± SEM. n=5–7. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviations: Ctrl, control; DM, diabetic mice; DEVD, Z-DEVD-FMK; AU, arbitrary units.