Journal:
Article Title: Tumor Necrosis Factor-? Mediates Diabetes-Enhanced Apoptosis of Matrix-Producing Cells and Impairs Diabetic Healing
doi: 10.2353/ajpath.2006.050907
Figure Lengend Snippet: TNF-α inhibition reduces fibroblast apoptosis and caspase-3 activity in diabetic but not normoglycemic mice during the healing response to bacteria-induced injury. Formalin-killed P. gingivalis was inoculated into the scalp of diabetic (db/db) and normoglycemic (db/+) littermates. Mice were treated with systemic and local injection of etanercept to inhibit TNF-α or with equivalent vehicle alone. Mice were euthanized on day 8. The TUNEL assay was used to detect fibroblast apoptosis, and a fluorimetric kit was used to measure caspase-3 activity. In A the arrows point to TUNEL-positive fibroblastic cells in a section that was counterstained with nuclear fast red. For B and C an asterisk indicates a significant difference in diabetic mice treated with etanercept compared to vehicle alone (P < 0.05).
Article Snippet: The TNF-α-specific inhibitor etanercept was generously provided by Amgen (Thousand Oaks, CA).
Techniques: Inhibition, Activity Assay, Bacteria, Injection, TUNEL Assay