a LDH assays of the medium from ECTs at different time points treated with different concentrations of AGEs revealed significant necrosis occurred only after AGEs treatment at 600 µg/mL for 72 h. n = 3 per group per time point. b, c Western blotting of c-Caspase 3/Caspase 3 in ECTs treated with different concentrations of AGEs. n = 3 per group, treatment for 72 h. d, e Representative ECT immunofluorescent staining for the terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling assay (TUNEL, green) and of nuclei (DAPI, blue) following treatment with different concentrations of AGEs for 12 days (×40 magnification). n = 3 per group. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus the respective control groups. Data are summarized as the normalized mean ± SD.