Figure 5. Expression of caspase-9 in HRCEC with or without HIV-1 gp120 treatment. A: western blot showed the expression of pro-caspase-9 (full length, using antibody No. 9502) and cleaved caspase-9 (37 kDa,
using antibody No. 9501-Asp330) in HRCEC without or with gp120 treatment. The activation of caspase-9 is reflected by the
appearance of the bands representing the 37-kDa cleavage product. B: The densities of the bands were quantified with Bio-Rad Gel Doc 2000. Arbitrary densitometry of cleaved caspase-9 show that
its expression increases significantly with the increase of HIV-1 gp120 protein concentration. #p<0.01 compared with control.
Data represent the mean±SD of three independent experiments.