Induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis by indolequinone 3 in pancreatic
cancer cells. A, effect of indolequinone 3 treatment on apoptotic cell
death. MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3 cells were treated with indolequinone 3 at
various concentrations. Apoptosis was measured 24 h after 4-h drug treatment
using annexin-PI staining in combination with flow cytometry analysis. B,
effect of pretreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk on
indolequinone 3-induced apoptosis. BxPC-3 cells were pretreated with
100 μM z-VAD-fmk for 30 min before indolequinone 3 treatment. Data
represent mean ± S.D. of three independent determinations. C, induction
of caspase activation by indolequinone 3 in MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3 pancreatic
cancer cells. The cleaved forms of caspase 3, 7, 8, and 9 were detected in
both cell lines using immunoblot analysis 24 h after 4-h drug treatment.
Staurosporine (STAU) treatment (500 nM) was included as positive control for
caspase activation. Immunoblot shown was representative of at least three
independent experiments.