Figure 4. Activated caspase-3 induced by AGE-exposure is reversed by RGD peptide. RMECs growing on AGE-FN show a significant increase in caspase-3 activity. Scrambled peptide (SDGRG) plated onto the AGE-modified substrate had no influence on caspase-3 activity, while exogenous RGDS significantly reduced caspase-3 activity in RMECs cultured on AGE-FN, although this is an incomplete reduction (n=3; *p<0.05).