Equol regulated ER stress in vitro and in vivo.

<p><b>(A)</b> HUVECs were pretreated with different concentrations (1, 10 and 100 nM) of equol for 24 h, followed by incubation with <i>t</i>-BHP (50 μM) for another 6 h. p-PERK, PERK, p-eIF2α, eIF2α, GRP78 and CHOP were detected by western blotting. <b>(C)</b> HUVECs were pretreated with different concentrations (1, 10 and 100 nM) of equol for 24 h, followed by incubation with palmitate (PA) (500 μM) for another 24 h. The protein expression of p-PERK, PERK, p-eIF2α, eIF2α, GRP78 and ATF6 was analyzed by western blotting. <b>(E)</b> Protein was obtained from the thoracic and abdominal aorta of apoE-/-mice with or without equol treatment, and the expression of p-eIF2α, P-PERK GRP78 and ATF6 was detected by western blotting. <b>(G)</b> HUVECs were incubated with Thap (1 μM) for 2 h and removed before equol (100 nM) treatment for another 24 h. The indicated proteins, including p-eIF2α, p-PERK GRP78 and CHOP, were detected by western blotting. <b>(B)(D)(F)(H)</b> The bar graphs show the quantification of the indicated proteins. Values are presented as means ± SD. n = 3, ^a<i>p</i> < 0.01, ^b<i>p</i> < 0.001 versus the control group; ^c<i>p</i> < 0.05, ^d<i>p</i> < 0.01, ^e<i>p</i> < 0.001, versus the <i>t</i>-BHP-treated group, PA-treated group, HFD or Thap-treated group.