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. 2020 May 6;35(5):1145–1158. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deaa077

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Ameliorative effects of metformin on testosterone-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in mouse granulosa cells (GCs) mediated via reduction of p38 MAPK phosphorylation. (A) Unfolded protein response (UPR) sensor protein levels in GCs after treatment with 10 μM testosterone (T) and 1 mM metformin (met). (B) Protein changes in GCs treated with 10 μM testosterone and 10 μM SB203580 (a p38 MAPK inhibitor) as detected by western blot. (C) Western blot results showing the changes in the indicated proteins in GCs treated with 10 μM testosterone after transfection with si-p38 MAPK. (D, E) Effects of SB203580 (D) and si-p38 MAPK (E) on ER stress-related mRNA expression levels in GCs treated with 10 μM testosterone; the signals were normalized to those of Gapdh. The data are presented as means ± SEMs. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. Si-nc, negative control siRNA; Met, metformin; T, testosterone.