Fig. 1.

BAG3 down-modulation affects HeLa cell viability. (A) BAG3 expression in HeLa and C33A cells (upper panel): BAG3/α-tubulin densitometry ratios are indicated; the blot is representative of at least two separate experiments with similar results. BAG3 down-modulation in HeLa cells in function of the time post-transfection (p.t) (lower panel): BAG3 levels were monitored by Western blotting and densitometry data of samples are expressed as fractions of BAG3/α-tubulin ratio in control cells normalized to 1. (B) Effect of BAG3 down-modulation on HeLa and C33A viability; on the Y axis the percentages of viable cells in BAG3-silenced cell samples versus scrRNA-transfected cells (% cell number of scrRNA versus control: 90 ± 3 at 50 h, 94 ± 3.3 at 72 h). (C) Representative phase contrast microscopy images (40× magnification) of scrRNA- and BAG3siRNA-transfected HeLa at 72 h p.t. (D) Effect of BAG3 down-modulation on HeLa and C33A adhesion to FN-coated plates. All results in A, B and D are the mean values ± SD from at least three experiments performed in duplicate (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.001).