CASP9 and diabetic kidney disease: In our studies, we found the increased expression of Bax (pro-apoptotic), decreased expression of Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic) as well as activated mitochondrial dependent pathways via reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, enhanced cytochrome C, increased expression of caspase 9 and caspase 3 in the cytosol and cleavage of PARP in STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy.