Figure 5.

Bid overexpression sensitizes tumor cells to pyrimidine 5-glycodialdehyde. Prostate cancer PC-3 cells (4x10⁴ cells in six-well plates) were transfected with 3 µg pcDNA3 or pcDNA3-Bid, and cultured for 24 hours, before adding 10 nM pyrimidine 5-glycodialdehyde (PGA) or control diluent and 5 µg/ml of Hoechst reagent (Aldrich). (A) After 24 hours, the percentage of cells with apoptotic morphology (condensed chromatin and fragmented nuclei) was determined (mean+SE; n=3). (B–D) Representative photomicrographs of Hoechst-stained cells are presented for PC3 cells, as follows (B) PC3/pcDNA3; (C) PC3/pcDNA3 treated with PGA; (D) PC3/pcDNA3-Bid; and (E) PC3/pcDNA3-Bid treated with PGA.