Figure 3.

Activation of caspases during PCBL, OPA and PPA-induced apoptosis in OVCAR-3. (A) Caspase-3/7, (B) caspase-8 and (C) caspase-9 activity levels were assessed following treatment with PCBLs, OPAs and PPAs for 24 h. The caspase activity of the control cells subsequent to treatment (0 µg/ml) was set as 100%. Data represents the mean ± standard deviation from 3 independent experiments. *P<0.05 compared with the control. (D) Protein expression levels of caspase-3/7, −8 and −9 were assessed by western blot analysis. Protein expression levels were measured by densitometry and the values above and below the blots indicate the relative ratios. Results are representative of ≥2 independent experiments. PCBL, Chinese bayberry leaf prodelphinidin extract; OPA, oligomeric proanthocyanidin; PPA, polymeric proanthocyanidin.