Figure 2. Expression of pAkt and telomerase activity following UV irradiation and AR-12 treatment. A: pAkt expression in LEC 8 h after treatment with AR-12 alone, UV and vehicle, or UV and AR-12. There was a significant increase in LEC pAkt protein expression following UV irradiation in the absence of AR-12 (light gray bars). A significant decrease in pAkt levels was found in LEC that were irradiated and allowed to recover in the presence of AR-12 (white bars), compared to LEC that were irradiated and allowed to recover in the absence of AR-12. Treatment with AR-12 alone did not impact the expression of pAkt (dark gray bars). B: pAkt expression in LEC 24 h after treatment with AR-12 alone, UV and vehicle, or UV and AR-12. There was a significant fold change in pAkt expression in LEC that were irradiated and allowed to recover in the absence of AR-12 (light gray bars). pAkt expression was significantly reduced when LEC were allowed to recover from irradiation in the presence of AR-12 (white bars). C: Telomerase activity in LEC 24 h after treatment. Telomerase activity was significantly increased in LEC following UV exposure. A significant decrease in telomerase activity was noted in LEC that were irradiated and allowed to recover in the presence of 5.0 or 10.0 µM AR-12 for 24 h. Treatment with AR-12 alone did not alter telomerase activity in LEC (* indicates p<0.05 and ** indicates p<0.01).