Fig. 4

The effect of silencing the PINK1 gene on mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis of hGECs at HG 12 h. HGECs were transfected with ShPINK1 and its corresponding empty vector ShNC with or without 25 mmol/L glucose for 12 h. a The protein level of PINK1 was determined by western blotting (representative images and statistical analysis). b MMP was measured by LSCM analysis of JC-1 staining. Scale bar = 10 μm. c The ratio of red/green fluorescence intensity was assembled from the statistical analysis. d The protein level of caspase 9 was analyzed by western blotting (representative images and statistical analysis). e Apoptotic cells were measured using annexin V/PI by fluorescence-activated cell sorting. The percentage of apoptotic events was assembled from the statistical analysis. f Apoptotic cells were identified by TUNEL assay. Scale bar = 80 μm. Significant differences are shown as *P < 0.05 versus NG 12 h-ShNC. ^#P < 0.05. The original picture of western blots of Fig. 4a, 4d were shown in Additional file 1: Fig. S4a, S4d