Fig. 4

Circ_001653 regulates KEAP1 to activate the KEAP1/Nrf2 pathway. (A) qRT-PCR was used to detect the relative mRNA expression levels of KEAP1, Nrf2, and HO-1 in HK-2 cells after transfection with sh-NC or sh-circ_001653 for 48 h and treated with LPS (10 µg/mL) for 24 h. HK-2 cells without LPS treatment were used as the control (Ctrl) group. (B) Expression of KEAP1 in HK-2 cells after transfection with KEAP1 overexpressing plasmid and negative control oe-NC for 48 h as measured by qRT-PCR. (C) Protein bands of KEAP1, Nrf2, HO-1 in HK-2 cells after indicated transfection were detected by Western blot. β-actin served as a loading control. (D) Relative expression of KEAP1, Nrf2, and HO-1 in HK-2 cells was detected by qRT-PCR. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Ctrl: Control; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; KEAP1, kelch like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology [ECH] associated protein 1; Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid 2 [NF-E2] related factor 2; HO-1: heme oxygenase-1