Skip to main content
. 2017 Nov 21;8(64):107701–107715. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.22592

Figure 3. Costunolide enhanced doxorubicin to induce apoptosis through activating mitochondrial pathway in PC-3 and DU-145 cells.

Figure 3

PC-3 and DU-145 cells were treated with 20 μM costunolide, 200 nM doxorubicin, or both. (A) Costunolide enhanced doxorubicin to change of mitochondria membrane potential in the PC-3 and DU-145 cells by using the JC-1 kit. Scale bar was 100 μm. (B) Bar charts showed quantitative data of average of 3 independent experiments by flow cytometry. (C) Western blots were performed to determine expressions of Bax, Bak, Bcl-2, and Bcl-xL proteins in PC-3 and DU-145 cells after treatment. β-actin was used as a loading control. (D) The ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 were calculated from the bands corresponding to Bax and Bcl-2 that normalized to β-actin. Western blots (E) and quantitative analyses (F) were performed to determine cytosolic and mitochondrial fraction cytochrome C in PC-3 and DU-145 cells after treatment. COX IV and β-actin were used as loading controls for the mitochondrial fraction and the cytosolic fraction, respectively. Results were presented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05; #p < 0.05 compared with the control group.