Fig. 3

Ureaplasma-driven apoptosis in HBMEC. Enzymes and other proteins involved in the apoptotic cascade (Fig. 1) were analyzed upon stimulation of HBMEC for 4 h, 24 h, or 30 h. For caspase 3, mRNA expression was determined via RNA sequencing (a) and qRT-PCR (b) and enzyme activity (cleaved caspase 3) was assessed via flow cytometry (c). For caspase 8, RNA sequencing (d) and qRT-PCR (e) were used to evaluate mRNA levels and flow cytometry (f) was employed to determine protein expression. Caspase 9 mRNA levels were also assessed via RNA sequencing (g) and qRT-PCR (h), and levels of active caspase 9 were determined using flow cytometry (i). RNA sequencing was used to assess mRNA expression of caspase 7 (j), BAK (k), BAX (l), p53 (m), FOS (n), and APAF1 (o). Data are shown as means ± SD (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 vs. unstimulated control; °p < 0.05, °°p < 0.01, °°°p < 0.001, °°°°p < 0.0001 vs. broth; ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 vs. LPS)