Figure 3.

The effect of aspirin plus erlotinib on p38/E-cadherin pathway. (A) A549/SGC-7901 cells were incubated with aspirin (5 mM), erlotinib (20 µM) or the combination for 24 h, and then the protein expressions were detected by western blot assay. A549 (B) and SGC-7901 (C) cells were transfected with E-cadherin plasmid, and then treated with aspirin (5 mM), erlotinib (20 µM) or the combination for 48 h. (D) SGC-7901 cells were pre-incubated with 10 µM SB-203580 for 1 h and then incubated with 5 mM aspirin and/or 20 µM erlotinib for 48 h. PI staining was used to detect apoptosis. (E) SGC-7901 cells were pre-incubated with 10 µM SB-203580 for 1 h and then incubated with 5 mM aspirin plus 20 µM erlotinib for 48 h. The expression of caspase-3 was examined. (F) SGC-7901 cells were transfected with p38 siRNA and control siRNA, and then treated with aspirin (5 mM), erlotinib (20 µM) or the combination for 48 h. PI staining was used to detect apoptosis. *P<0.05. PI, propidium iodide.