Increased apoptosis in AM with deficient CFTR.

AM transfected with CFTR-siRNA or control-siRNA for 48 h were analyzed for apoptosis by TUNEL assay and for cleaved PARP protein expression by Western analysis. A. TUNEL assay. The nuclear staining of green fluorescence was shown as the positive apoptosis signal. DAPI served as normal nuclear staining control. B. Quantification of TUNEL assay. C. IL-8 secretion adjusted to the percentage of non-apoptotic cells in AM transfected with CFTR-siRNA or control-siRNA after 48 h. D. Western analysis of cleaved PARP protein expression using β-tubulin as loading control. E. Quantification of Western analysis. Shown is the mean ± SEM of three pairs of independent samples. This experiment is the representative of 6 studies.