Fig. 5

Notch inhibited TNF-α-promoted apoptosis via Fas. a, b Fas and RIP mRNA expression levels were upregulated by TNF-α stimulation and downregulated by JAG2 treatment; TUNEL assay showed similar results. c–g Western blot analysis showed that Fas, RIP1, cleaved-caspase-8, and cleaved-caspase-3 protein expression levels were upregulated by TNF-α and downregulated by JAG2 treatment; Notch2/Hes1/Hey2 siRNA significantly enhanced the induction by TNF-α. h, i The apoptotic mortality of cultured NP cells caused by TNF-α with or without Notch2/Hey2/Hes1 siRNA treatment was reduced by the addition of anti-FasL antibody to the culture. P values were computed vs. non-stimulated controls*, TNF-α-stimulated controls^#, or JAG2-stimulated controls^&; *^,#,&P < 0.05