Figure 5

mRNA and protein expressions of apoptosis and anti-apoptosis factors in infarcted area. The mRNA and protein expressions of Bax (A & D) and caspase 3 (B & E) were notably higher in AMI than in normal and AMI + tacrolimus, and significantly higher in AMI + tacrolimus than in normal. Conversely, the mRNA expression of Bcl-2 (C) was remarkably lower in AMI than in normal and AMI + tacrolimus, and notably lower normal than in AMI + tacrolimus. Besides, the protein expression of Bcl-2 (F) was notably lower in AMI than in normal and AMI + tacrolimus, and significantly lower in AMI + tacrolimus than in normal. * vs. other groups, p < 0.001. All statistical analyses using one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison procedure. Symbols (*, †, ‡) indicate significance (at 0.05 level) (n = 6 for each group).