Figure 3
From: Hepatitis C virus core protein induces apoptosis-like caspase independent cell death
Different features of apoptosis induced by the HCV- core protein in UC cells cultured in the presence or absence of tetracycline to induce specific protein expression. A: membrane blebbing and nuclear condensation was visualized in 2 × 104 UC cells cultured for 48 h. Apoptotic stimuli were added during the last 24 h: mitomycin C (50 μg/ml), and TRAIL (40 ng/ml). Nuclei were stained with the cell permeable dye Höchst 33342 and cells were applied to phase contrast and fluorescence microscopy (magnification: 320 ×). B: Detection of apoptosis by the TUNEL assay. 5 × 105 cells/ml were cultured for 48 h and mitomycin C (50 μg/ml) and TRAIL (40 ng/ml) were added during the last 24 h and served as positive control. TUNEL assay was measured by flow cytometry.