Figure 5. Inhibition of AKT or nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) enhances tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-induced apoptosis. Primary bovine retinal pericytes were preincubated with or without the Akt inhibitor, the specific NF-κB inhibitor (SN50), or the SN50M control peptide that lacks activity for 2 h, followed by TNF-α (20 ng/ml) stimulation in the presence of these molecules for 24 h. Apoptosis was determined by ELISA. A: Effect of Akt inhibitor on TNF-α-induced apoptosis was examined in pericytes. B: Effect of NF-κb inhibitor on TNF-α-stimulated apoptosis in pericytes. Each value represents the mean of three replicates±standard error of the mean and is representative of three experiments. *, p<0.05 significantly differs from the control; **, p<0.05, significantly differs from TNF-α-stimulated cells.