Fig. 7

Sinomenine protects human neurons from indirect toxicity. The human astrocytes were treated with oligomeric amyloid beta (ADDL) in the absence or presence of sinomenine. The human neurons were treated with the conditioned medium from astrocytes and TUNEL assay was used to determine cell death. The representative images of DAPI- or TUNEL-stained neurons are shown in a and quantified summary data (n = 4) are shown in b. The neurons treated with the conditioned medium from ADDL-treated astrocytes showed increased number of TUNEL positive cells. However, ADDL-induced increase in the number of TUNEL positive cells was inhibited by sinomenine. The neurons exposed to the conditioned medium from astrocytes treated with sinomenine alone, did not show increased number of TUNEL positive cells. Asterisk indicates significant difference from control (p < 0.05). # indicates significant difference (p < 0.05) between groups as indicated. Scale bar, 50 μm