Induction of endoplasmic reticulum-derived oxidative stress by an occult infection related S surface antigen variant

Figure 7 Apoptosis induction by an occult infection related hepatitis B virus S surface antigen variant (KD). A: After transient transfection of plasmids (MOCK, NOR, and KD) into HuH-7 cells, up-regulation of p-JNK and the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and down-regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were observed in the KD HBsAg variant compared to the MOCK and NOR. These results were confirmed using Western blot; B: After transfection, up-regulation of apoptosis-related caspase proteins (caspases 6, 9, and 12) was observed in the KD HBsAg variant compared to the MOCK and NOR. Apoptosis induction in the KD variant was demonstrated using a DNA Fragmentation Assay and the Cell Death Detection ELISA^PLUS kit (Roche, Mannheim, Germany); C: PI staining using FACS. Morphological identification (D) of DNA fragmentation (E). The relative intensity values were determined, and all data are expressed as the mean ± SD within a group. The three experiments were compared using Tukey’s multiple post-hoc test (^bP < 0.01 vs three experiments).