Fig. 5.

Akt/mTOR inhibition by capsaicin is independent of AMPK activation. Effect of the AMPK inhibitor dorsomorphin (DORSO, 5μM), or AMPK silencing by siRNA or LKB1 silencing by siRNA on Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. a PC3 cells were incubated with 40 μM docetaxel (DTX), 80 μM capsaicin (CAP) or the combination of both in the presence or not of 5 μM Dorsomorphin (DORSO) during 1 h. b PC3 cells were transfected with sicontrol (siC) or selective siAMPK for 72 h and then treated with 40 μM docetaxel (DTX), 80 μM capsaicin (CAP) or the combination of both during 1 h. c PC3 cells were transfected with sicontrol or selective siLKB1 for 72 h and then treated with 40 μM docetaxel (DTX), 80 μM capsaicin (CAP) or the combination of both during 1 h. Levels of proteins were determined by Western blot. β-Tubulin serves as a loading control. The densitometric analyses of bands represented as the mean ± SD of three different experiments are shown on the right. *p < 0.05 significant difference between treated and control cells by two-way ANOVA and Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test; ^#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 significant interaction between DTX and CAP treatment