Reversion of the anti-ER stress and anti-apoptotic effects of pioglitazone by GW9662.

RAW264.7 cells were pretreated with GW9662 (1, 5, 10 μmol/L) for 1 hour and incubated with pioglitazone (10 μmol/L) for 6 hours. Then, cells were stimulated with palmitate (400 μmol/L) for 16 hours. Western blot analyses for phospho (P)-PERK (A), CHOP (B), phospho (P)-JNK (C), cleaved caspase-3 (D) were performed. The bar graphs indicate the ratio of P-PERK to PERK, CHOP to α-tubulin, P-JNK to JNK, and cleaved caspase-3 to α-tubulin, respectively. *P<0.05, ** P<0.01 vs control (palmitate (-), Pioglitazone (-) and GW9662 (-)), #P<0.05 vs palmitate, †P<0.05, ††P<0.01 vs Palmitate+Pioglitazone. n = 4.