Figure 3.

MAPK and AKT-mTOR signaling pathways in Huaier polysaccharide-treated HepG2 and Huh7 cells. (A) Activation of the MAPK signaling pathways was observed in both HepG2 and Huh7 cells using specific antibodies against activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK gene can produce 46- and 54-kDa proteins) and p38 (43 kDa protein). (B) Detection of the activated proteins in the AKT-mTOR signaling pathway. The cells were treated as described in Fig. 2, and the protein levels of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase were used as a loading control. All immunoblotting experiments were performed twice. p, phosphorylated; ERK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; mTOR, mechanistic target of rapamycin; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; S6K, S6 kinase.