SiRNA against survivin enhanced the sensitization of C2C12 myoblast cells to thimerosal-induced apoptosis.

<p><b>A.</b> After 48 h transfection with non-targeted (NC) or survivin (S1, S2 and S3) siRNA or mock transfection without siRNA (MOCK), the expression of survivin was assayed by western blot analysis and densitometry. **P<0.01 vs. non-targeted (NC) <b>B.</b> After transfection with non-targeted (NC) or survivin S1 siRNA for 48 h, cells were treated with or without thimerosal (250 nM) for 24 h and stained with Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide followed by flow cytometry. <b>C.</b> After treatment of siRNA and thimerosal, proteins from total cell lysates were separated by SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis and immunoblotted with antibodies against survivin, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3 and GAPDH followed by densitometric quantification. Data are means±S.E.M of the values from three independent experiments. **P<0.01 vs. single treatment with 250 nM thimerosal; ## P<0.01 vs. untreated cells.