Fig. 3.

TUG1 knockdown reversed DEX-induced inhibition of inflammatory responses and apoptosis in OGD-treated hepatocytes. WRL-68 cells were pre-treated with 1 nm DEX for 1 h and then cultured in OGD medium. a The expression of TUG1 was detected by qPCR. b Cell viability was tested by MTT assay. c The apoptosis of WRL-68 cells was assessed by flow cytometry. d The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in WRL-68 cells were tested by western blotting. The relative protein expressions were quantified via normalizing to GAPDH. e The levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α) in supernatants of WRL-68 cells were assessed by ELISA. *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001