Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of Src kinase inhibitor PP2 on hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury in rat astrocytes
in vitro. Methods In vitro cultured rat astrocytes were exposed to hypoxia for 8 h followed by reoxygenation for 24 h with or
without pretreatment with PP2 (10 μmol/L) for 24 h before H/R injury. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to detect the
viability and apoptosis of the exposed astrocytes, respectively, and the protein expressions of Src, Bax, and Bcl-2 in the cells
were determined using Western blotting. Results PP2 pretreatment significantly increased the viability and decreased the
apoptosis rate of rat astrocytes exposed to H/R injury (P<0.01). Western blotting showed that H/R injury caused increased
expression of Src kinase, which was lowered by PP2 pretreatment. The ratio of Bax/bcl-2 in the astrocytes increased after H/R
injury, and was significantly decreased by PP2 pretreatment (P<0.01). Conclusion PP2 protects rat astrocytes from H/R injury
possibly by inhibiting the expression of Src kinase and activating the anti-apoptotic mechanisms in the cells.