Fig. 4

Effects of various NAC concentrations on ROS, antioxidant enzymes and PI3K/AKT pathway. A Fluorescent imaging depicting the intracellular ROS intensity. Scale bars: 50 μm. B Relative MFI of ROS intensity detected by flow cytometry. C Graph depicting the intracellular superoxide content. D Graph depicting the intracellular H₂O₂ content. E Graph depicting the intracellular GSH content. F Graph depicting the SOD activity. G Graph depicting the CAT activity. H Western blot depicting protein expression of PI3K-p85 (85 kD), PI3K-p110 (110 kD), AKT (60 kD), phosphorylated-PI3K-p85 (85 kD) and phosphorylated-AKT (60 kD) in hDFSCs treated with 5 mM NAC or not. I Fluorescent imaging depicting the intracellular ROS intensity after LY294002 treatment. Scale bars: 50 μm. J Relative MFI of ROS intensity after LY294002 treatment detected by flow cytometry. Statistically significant differences between groups were determined by P < 0.05 (*), P < 0.01 (**), P < 0.001 (***), P < 0.0001 (****)