Figure 3.

circNT5E silencing induces apoptosis activation in NSCLC cells. The stable A549 cells (A–F) or the primary human NSCLC cells (Pri-Ca-1/-2/-3, G and H) with the lentivirus-packaged circNT5E shRNA (“sh-circNT5E-Seq-1/2”) or the non-sense control shRNA (“sh-c”) were cultured for 48h, single strand DNA (ssDNA) contents (A), the relative caspase-3 activity (B and G) and cell apoptosis (D, E and H) were examined by the mentioned assays, with mitochondrial depolarization tested by JC-1 staining (F). Expression of listed apoptosis-associated proteins were tested, quantified and normalized to the loading control (C). Error bars stand for mean ± standard deviation (SD, n=5). * P <0.05 vs. “Pare”/“sh-c” cells. Experiments in this figure were repeated five times, and similar results were obtained. Bar= 100 μm (D, F and H).