Fig. 4.

Combination of docetaxel and capsaicin activates AMPK. a PC3 cells were incubated with 40 μM docetaxel (DTX), 80 μM capsaicin (CAP) or the combination of both during 1 h or 24 h and levels of phospho-AMPK, phospho-ACC and their corresponding total forms were determined by Western blot. β-Tubulin serves as a loading control. The densitometric analyses of bands is shown on the right. b Effect of the AMPK inhibitor dorsomorphin (DORSO, 5 μM), of AMPK silencing by siRNA or LKB1 silencing by siRNA on cell viability. Data are presented as the mean ± SD of three different experiments. *p < 0.05 significant difference between treated and control cells; ^#p < 0.05 significant difference between non-silenced and silenced cells by two-way ANOVA and Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test; ^‡p < 0.05 indicates a significant interaction between DTX and CAP treatment