Figure 6.

Silencing of SCF components results in caspase-3 activation and apoptosis induction. (A) Silencing of SAG, ROC1, or β-TrCPs increased caspase-3 activity upon activation and (B) cell death induced by anticancer agents. HeLa cells were transfected with psiSAG-2, psiROC-1, or β-TrCP-si alone, along with psiCont plasmid. Thirty-six hours posttransfection, cells were treated with either DMSO or etoposide (25 µM) for 24 hours, or TRAIL (50 ng/ml) for 8 hours, followed by caspase-3 activity assay (A) or trypan blue staining assay for cell viability (B). The results were presented as percent control (mean ± SEM) from three independent experiments. Paired Student's t test was used to define statistically significant levels at *P < .05 or **P < .01.