Fig. 3

NORHA induces cell apoptosis of porcine GCs. a The mRNA expression levels of NORHA and caspase 3 are positively correlated in follicles. b Overexpression and knockdown of NORHA in GCs by transfection with pcDNA3.1-NORHA and NORHA-siRNA, respectively. NORHA levels were detected by RT-PCR and normalized to those of GAPDH. c, d NORHA controls GC apoptosis. GCs were treated with pcDNA3.1-NORHA (c) and NORHA-siRNA (d), and cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. e, f NORHA controls Caspase 3 expression in GCs. GCs were treated with pcDNA3.1-NORHA (e) and NORHA-siRNA (f), and the protein levels of total Caspase 3 (T-CASP3) and cleaved Caspase 3 (C-CASP3) were measured by western blotting. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM of at least three independent experiments. * P < 0.05. ** P < 0.01. *** P < 0.001