Figure 5. Olaparib and embelin synergistically inhibits the growth of MDA-MB-231 xenografts.

Female nude mice 6 weeks of age were injected subcutaneously with 4 × 10⁶ MDA-MB-231 cells. After one week, mice were treated intraperitoneal with olaparib (10 mg/kg), embelin (5 mg/kg) and combination twice a week for 30 days. DMSO (5%) in PBS served as a vehicle control. (A) Volume of each tumor was measured every week and the average (n = 5) tumor volume of mice was calculated, ^*p < 0.05 inhibition of BC tumor growth by combination of olaparib and embelin treatment. (B) After 4 weeks of treatment, mice were sacrificed and tumor weights were measured, ^*p < 0.05 compared to vehicle-treated mice by Student’s t-test. (C) Representative tumor images of vehicle, olaparib, embelin and combination of olaparib and embelin treated mice. (D) Whole cell lysate from mice treated with vehicle, olaparib, embelin and combination of olaparib and embelin were isolated and 10 µg protein were separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to PVDF membrane, and immunoblotted with antibodies against Caspase-9, Caspase-3, PARP, XIAP and GAPDH.