Figure 2.

Kahweol acetate and cafestol treatment induced apoptosis by downregulating anti-apoptotic proteins in renal cancer cells. (a,b) TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay (a) and statistics (b) showing apoptosis of ACHN or Caki-1 cells under kahweol acetate and cafestol treatment. ACHN and Caki-1 cells (3 × 10⁴ cells) were exposed to predetermined concentrations of kahweol acetate and cafestol for 12 h on sterile slide coverslips, after which TUNEL assays were performed. All experiments were performed in triplicate. Data are presented as means ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Bar = 50 µm. (c–f) Protein levels of apoptosis-associated genes, p/tSTAT3 in ACHN (c) and Caki-1 (d) cells, Bcl-2/Bcl-xL in ACHN (e) and Caki-1 (f) cells, treated for 24 h were measured using Western blot analysis and quantitatively analyzed using densitometry with ImageJ software as shown by bar graphs. Equal amounts of cell lysates (10 µg) were subjected to electrophoresis. Data are presented means ± SEM (n = 4). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001.