FIGURE 5.

Effects of cMet agonistic Ab treatment on apoptosis in in vitro study. (A) The treatment of hPTECs with the cMet agonistic Ab increased the level of p‐cMet, suggesting that this antibody is functional in hPTECs. (B) Antiapoptotic effect of cMet agonistic Ab treatment. In hypoxia‐injured hPTECs, the apoptosis rate was higher than that in the control hPTECs. Treatment with the cMet agonistic Ab again reduced the proportion of apoptotic cells to a level comparable with that of rHGF treatment (**P < .01, ***P < .001). (C) cMet agonistic Ab is also effective when cells are treated with an HGF‐blocking antibody. After hypoxic stimulation and treatment with the cMet agonistic Ab, the percentage of apoptotic cells decreased dose‐dependently to a level comparable with that of rHGF treatment. The increase in the proportion of apoptotic cells after treatment with an HGF‐blocking antibody significantly decreased after cMet agonistic antibody treatment. These results are representative of one of three independent experiments