Combination of artesunate and wogonin significantly increases apoptosis in the HCC cells. (A). HepG2 cells and (B). Hep3B cells treated with ATN (10 μM), WOG (10 μM) or combination of both for 48 h were stained with Annexin V/PI. Vehicle served as control. Flow cytometry analysis of the percentages of early and late apoptosis in these cells (bottom panel). (C). Expression of cleaved-PARP, cleaved-caspase 8, cleaved-caspase 3, full length caspase 12, cleaved-caspase 12, full length caspase 10, cleaved-caspase 10, cleaved-caspase 9, full length caspase 7, cleaved-caspase 7, full length caspase 6, cleaved-caspase 6 and full length caspase 4, and quantitative analysis of the protein expressions, of the HepG2 cells treated with ATN (10 μM), WOG (10 μM) or the combination of both for 48 h. (D) Expression of cleaved-PARP, cleaved-caspase 8 and cleaved-caspase 3, and quantitative analysis of the protein expressions, of the Hep3B cells treated with ATN (10 μM), WOG (10 μM) or combination of both for 48 h. Shown is mean ± SE, n = 3 independent experiments. 1*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, compared with control; a<0.05, aa<0.01 compared with ATN; b < 0.05, compared with WOG. ATN, artesunate; WOG, wogonin; PI, propidium iodide; Cleaved-PARP, cleaved-poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase.