SGK1 inhibits cellular apoptosis and promotes proliferation via the MEK/ERK/p53 pathway in colitis

Figure 3 Serum-and-glucocorticoid-inducible-kinase-1 expression was increased in the colonic tissue of a 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced murine model. A: Histological damage of colonic tissues induced by ethanol or 50% TNBS in mice (HE staining). Colonic tissues were obtained from the mice killed 3 d post-enema with ethanol or 50% TNBS; B: Immunohistochemical localization and upregulation of SGK1 expression in the colitis model. SGK1-dependent staining is indicated by brown areas. The density of positive areas was analyzed with Image Pro Plus; C: The TNBS group showed an increase in TUNEL positive cells. The positive cells were counted, and the results are presented as mean ± SD from six sample fields; D: Western blot analysis was performed to study the SGK1 level in TNBS-induced colitis compared with ethanol-treated mice. The ethanol-treated group served as controls in these experiments. ^aP < 0.05 and ^bP < 0.01 vs the ethanol treatment group. GAPDH served as the internal control.