Naofen promotes TNF-α-mediated apoptosis of hepatocytes by activating caspase-3 in lipopolysaccharide-treated rats

Figure 1 Changes in tumor necrosis factor-α and naofen expression in the liver of lipopolysaccharide-treated rats. Rats were intravenously injected with saline + IgG (control), LPS (500 μg/kg) + IgG (2 mg/kg) or LPS (500 μg/kg) + anti-TNF-α (2 mg/kg), and livers were removed to evaluate expression of TNF-α and naofen. A: Time course of the effects of LPS on TNF-α mRNA expression; B: Effect of anti-TNF-α antibody on naofen mRNA expression at 9 h after LPS injection; total RNA was extracted using TRIzol reagent and relative mRNA was quantified using qPCR (n = 10). Tissue lysates were examined by Western blot; C: TNF-α protein expression; D: Naofen protein expression (n = 6). Results are presented as ratios of target mRNA or protein normalized to internal GAPDH. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 and ^dP < 0.001 vs control; ^eP < 0.05 vs LPS + IgG. TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-α; LPS: Lipopolysaccharide.