Figure 5.

The reduction of LNCaP cell apoptotic sensitivity to zinc with Smad4/Smad2 silencing. (a) LNCaP cells were transfected with two shRNAs targeting the Smad4 or Smad2 gene for 24 h for immunoblot analysis with the specific antibody against Smad4 or Smad2, using pBSU6 vector group as control. (b) LNCaP transfected with increased amounts of Smad4 or Smad2 plasmids for 24 h for immunoblot analysis with p21^WAF1/Cip1 antibody. (c) The percentage of cells of sub-G1 region induced by zinc with Smad2 or Smad4 silence in flow cytometry analysis. Columns, mean (n=3); bars, S.D. *P<0.05. **P<0.01. ***P<0.001 (Student's t-test)