Figure 6.

DHE inhibited p50/p65 NF-κB activity by targeting IKKβ kinase in glioblastoma cells. U87 (A) and U251 (B) cells were treated with different concentrations of DHE (0, 10, 20 and 30 μM) for 48 h. The expression of p-IKKα/β, IKKα, IKKβ, p-IκBα, IκBα, p-p65 and p65 proteins in the glioblastoma cells were evaluated by western blot. The β-actin served as the loading control. Representative immunoblot of three independent experiments is shown. (C) The best ranked pose of DHE in the ATP binding site of IKKβ generated with docking. (a) Interactions of DHE and IKKβ are delineated by ribbon structure, hydrogen bonds are displayed as yellow dashed lines, and the participating amino acid residues are marked. (b) MOLCAD representation the molecular lipophilic potential surface upon the bioactive pose of DHE in the ATP binding site of IKKβ. The blue denotes the hydrophilic, brown for the lipophilic and green corresponds to the neutral moiety.