Figure 1.

Lycopene enhances the effect of docetaxel on reduction of cell viabilities and induction of apoptosis. (A) A total of 5 x 10⁴ 22Rv1, LNCaP, LAPC-4, DU145, and PC-3 cells were plated in 24-well culture plates. After 24 hours, the medium was changed to fresh medium and treated with vehicle controls (0.1% DMSO alone, 0.1% THF alone, or 0.1% DMSO plus 0.1% THF), 1 nM docetaxel (blank bars), 1 µM lycopene (strip bars), and 1 nM docetaxel plus 1 µM lycopene (solid bars). The medium was changed daily, after 72 hours of treatments; the number of viable cells was measured by the MTT assay and expressed relative to their vehicle controls. Each point is the mean of four independent plates. Bars, ±SE. (B and C) DU145 cells were stained by PI and pre-G₁, and the cell cycle populations were analyzed by flow cytometry. Con, Lyco1, Lyco10, and Doc1 denote vehicle control, 1 µM lycopene, 10 µM lycopene, and 1 nM docetaxel, respectively. A representative photograph of cell cycle population distribution for each treatment is presented. Each bar represents the mean ± SE from three independent experiments.