Fig. 3.

Silence of HO-1 weakened the effects of galuteolin on cell viability and apoptosis of RA-FLS cells. a The HO-1 mRNA expression in RA-FLS cells with indicated treatments was measured by RT-qPCR. ***p < 0.001 vs. control; ^###p < 0.001 vs. TNF-α. b At 48 h after transfection, RA-FLS cells were collected and the expression of HO-1. c Effects of HO-1 siRNA on the proliferation of RA-FLS cells at 24 h, 48 h after Galu pretreatments were evaluated using CCK-8 assay. d TUNEL staining assay was performed to investigate the cell apoptosis of RA-FLS cells at 48 h Galu pretreatments. e Western blot analyses of Bax, Bcl-2 cleaved-caspase-3, and caspase-3 proteins expression in RA-FLS cells with indicated treatments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 vs. Galu; ^#p < 0.05 and ^##p < 0.01 vs. Galu + TNF-α