Fig 4. Biological activities of Honokiol released from Honokiol-loaded PLGA 85–15 scaffold.

(A) Renal cancer cells (786–0 and ACHN) were treated with either 0.5x0.5 cm² Honokiol-loaded PLGA 85–15 scaffold or control scaffold for 24 hr. Following treatment, cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay and (B) cell lysates were prepared after 24 hr treatment and the expression levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, HO-1 and β-actin were analyzed by Western blotting. (C) “Wound healing assay”, as described in the “Methods” section was performed using 786–0 and ACHN cells to assess the migration of renal cancer cells. Briefly, cells were treated with either Honokiol-loaded PLGA 85–15 scaffold or control after scratching the diameter of the culture well with a 200 μl pipette tip to simulate a wound. To assess wound closure, the phase contrast microscope photographs of the wound area at 0 hr and after 12 hr treatment, were analyzed. The bar graph represents the quantification of number of cells migrated to the wound area. B, and C results shown are representative of three independent experiments. A-C, the columns in the bar graphs represent the mean ± S.D. of experimental readings. *, represents p<0.05 compared with respective controls.