FIGURE 1.

Sensitivity of A549 transfectants (empty vector and pCDNA3.1-TMX) to toxins. A549 control cells (empty vector) and overexpressing TMX (pCDNA3.1-TMX) were exposed to various concentrations of toxins and their viability assessed 48 h after toxin addition by an XTT assay. The graphs represent, respectively, the intoxication of the target cells after incubation with ricin (A), abrin (B), Pseudomonas exotoxin A (C), and saporin (D). In the upper right corner of A and B are reported the histograms of the IC₅₀ (concentration inhibiting the 50% of the cell viability) value obtained from the cytotoxicity curves after treatment of the cells with ricin or abrin. *, p < 0.01; **, <0.05 (Student's t test).