Fig. (2) ARE response to oxidative stress requires functional AREs and Nrf2. (A) ARE-luciferase response to 16-hour hydroquinone (HQ) in HepG2 cells (blue), attenuation of the response by pre-treatment with a antioxidant n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) (green) and lack of response of AREmut-luciferase reporter to HQ treatment (red). (B) Reduction in Nrf2 levels via Nrf2-specific shRNA inhibition impairs response to HQ (100 M, 16 hours) in HepG2 ARE-luciferase stable reporter cells (blue) whereas the response is unaffected by scrambled shRNA control (red).