Fig. 8.

Impact of enhanced intracellular GSH levels on the anticancer activity of the copper complexes. a To evaluate the impact of elevated intracellular GSH levels on the copper complexes tested, SW480 cells were incubated with the GSH precursor NAC. After 30 min pretreatment, NAC-containing medium was replaced by fresh culture medium. Then the copper complexes were added at the indicated concentrations. After 72 h incubation, viability was determined using MTT assay. The values given are the mean ± the standard deviation of three determinations from three experiments. b Left DCF-DA-loaded HL60 cells were incubated for 15 min with 2 mM NAC, then the test compounds (50 μM) were added in the presence of NAC. After 30 min incubation, fluorescence was measured by flow cytometry. Right after preincubation, the NAC-containing buffer was replaced by fresh Hanks balanced salt solution and the test compounds (50 μM) were added. After 30 min incubation, fluorescence was measured by flow cytometry. One representative experiment of three giving comparable results is shown