Figure 3.

AM demonstrated sustained and more profound cytotoxicity than ATO on Huh7 HCC cells. Huh7 cells were seeded and allowed to grow for 24 hours and then were treated with PBS as control (CT), vacant PLGA microsphere (PLGA), AM (0.25–4 μM), or ATO (0.25–4 μM) for nine days. The cytotoxicity was evaluated by Calcein AM assay (data: mean ± SD). (A) PLGA did not cause cytotoxicity during the entire treatment. (B–F) Cytotoxicity caused by AM and ATO at the dose range from 0.25 μm to 4 μm. Both AM and ATO had cytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner. ATO (0.25–2 μM) reached the lowest viability signal at day 3 of incubation. Comparing to ATO, AM treatment at the dose range of 0.25–2 μM showed sustained and more profound cytotoxic effect. At the concentration of 4 μM, AM and ATO showed same level of cytotoxicity along the time course.