Fig. 5.

Downregulation of survivin with siRNA augments apoptosis induced by sulindac and simvastatin. (A) Cells were transfected with siRNA specific for survivin, and survivin protein expression was assessed by immunoblot analysis 24 hours after transfection. Scrambled RNA containing the same number of each nucleotide found in survivin siRNA was used as the transfection control. The expression of survivin, cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and cleaved caspase-9 was measured in the cell lysates. (B) Apoptosis was evaluated by green fluorescent protein–annexin V+propidium iodide. Bars represent the mean±standard deviation of three independent experiments. ^*p < 0.05 for survivin-siRNA and combined treatment with sulindac and simvastatin versus either scrambled siRNA and combined treatment or combined treatment alone. Sul, sulindac; Sim, simvastatin; siSCR, scrambled siRNA; siSUR, survivin-siRNA; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.