Fig. 2

The involvement of PAQR7 in the anti-apoptotic action of progesterone (P4) on KGN cells. (A and B) The apoptosis of KGN cells transferred with control siRNA (siRNA), siPAQR7, and siPAQR7 co-incubated with P4 (siPAQR7 + P4) was examined after annexin V-Fluorescein 5-isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining. 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI, blue) was used to stain the nuclei. Scale bars represent 50 μm. (C) The mRNA levels of PAQR7 and apoptosis-related genes (CASPASE-3, BAX and BCL2) in KGN cells transfected with control siRNA (siRNA), siPAQR7 and siPAQR7 co-incubated with P4 (siPAQR7 + P4) were analyzed by real-time quantitative PCR. (D) A sample of western blot analysis measuring the protein levels of PAQR7, Cleaved-CASPASE-3, BAX, and BCL2. (E-I) Statistical analyses of PAQR7 (E), BCL2 (F), BAX (G), Cleaved- CASPASE-3 (H) and BAX/BCL2 ratio (I) were conducted by quantifying the gray value of target bands normalized to that detected by the anti-GAPDH antibody (loading control) using Image J software. Values are presented as the mean ± SEM. The experiment was repeated three times. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 compared with the control group, One-way ANOVA analysis