Figure 5.

Protective effects of Lut and Lut-DG against oxidative stress occurs through modulation of the apoptotic MAPKs signaling pathway. ARPE-19 cells were pre-incubated with 1 µM of Lut and Lut-DG for 24 h, followed by H₂O₂ treatment at 400 µM for 1 h. Protein levels of phosphorylated (A) p38, (B) ERK1/2 and (C) SAPK/JNK were determined by immunoblotting of cell lysates. Band densitometry values of p-p38, p-ERK1/2 and p-SAPK/JNK were normalized to the band of p38, ERK1/2, and SAPK/JNK, respectively. Representative western blots are shown, with graphs presenting average normalized protein expression. Results are presented as mean ± SD values, n = 4; (One-Way ANOVA test), * p ≤ 0.05 vs. control group, ^# p ≤ 0.05 vs. H₂O₂ group, and ^& p ≤ 0.05 vs. Lut + H₂O₂ group).