Caspase-12 mediates carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatocyte apoptosis in mice

Figure 5 Attenuated carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic apoptosis and liver injury in caspase-12^-/- mice. A: Terminal transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining to evaluate carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced hepatocyte apoptosis in caspase-12^-/- mice. Five randomly selected fields at 200× magnification were evaluated for each tissue section. The numbers of apoptotic cells were counted as TUNEL-positive cells/mm². Values are mean ± SE, n = 8; ^aP < 0.05 vs controls, ^cP < 0.05 vs caspase-12^+/+; B: CCl₄-induced liver injury as measured by serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Values are mean ± SE, n = 8; ^eP < 0.05 vs controls, ^gP < 0.05 vs caspase-12^+/+ mice; C: Representative sections of TUNEL staining under fluorescence microscope (200 ×). TUNEL-positive cells were identified by the nuclear fluorescence staining.