Figure 2.

Matrine-induced necroptosis in CCA cells. (a–c) Mz-ChA-1 and QBC939 cells were pre-treated with necroptosis inhibitor Nec-1 (20 μM) or caspase-dependent apoptosis inhibitor z-VAD-fmk (20 μM) for 2 h, and then treated with matrine (1.5 mg/ml) or vehicle for 48 h. After that, the percentage of cell death was determined by PI staining and flow cytometry (a and b) and the accurate morphology of cells were observed and photographed under transmission electron microscope (c). Results were presented as the mean±S.D. from three independent experiments. Significant differences were indicated as *P<0.05, **P<0.01 and ***P<0.001 (assessed by Student’s t-test).