Figure 6.

The combined effects of ELE and 5-FU on MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cell lines.

Notes: (A and B) Both cell lines were treated with ELE alone, 5-FU alone, or their combination. Following treatment, we used Western blot to check the expression levels of the major Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway proteins, including p-p38, p-38, p-c-Raf, and p-Erk1/2. We used GAPDH as a loading control. (C and D) MDA-MB-231 and BT549 cells were pretreated with the MEK inhibitor U0126 and cultured with the combination of ELE and 5-FU at an indicated dose. After 48 h, the cell viability was checked through MTT assay. The results from three different experiments were expressed as mean ± SD, and the significance level were *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001. (E and F) The protein quantitative analyses were performed. The data obtained from three independent experiments were presented as mean ± SD, and the significance levels were *P<0.05 and ***P<0.001.