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Figure 5 Effect of carvedilol on caspase-mediated apoptosis signal transduction in HUVECs. A, Caspase-3–like activity after treatment with TNF-alpha (50 ng/ml, 18 h) alone and in combination with carvedilol (5 µmol/liter), its analogue BM91.0228 (5 µmol/liter) or propranolol (5 µmol/liter). *p < 0.001 vs. TNF-alpha group (n = 4). B, Apoptosis rates of HUVECs cotransfected with pcDNA3.1 caspase-8 or pcDNA3.1 without insert (mock) and pcDNA3.1 LacZ in the presence or absence of carvedilol (5 µmol/liter), BM91.0228 (5 µmol/liter) or propranolol (5 µmol/liter). *p < 0.001 vs. caspase-8. C, Cytosolic cytochrome c levels after incubation with TNF-alpha (50 ng/ml) and carvedilol (5 µmol/liter) for 18 h. Equal loading of the blot was confirmed by reprobing against actin. A representative blot, out of three independent experiments, is shown.