FIGURE 6.

Santamarine effects on cell apoptosis. (A) HeLa cells were treated vehicle (control) and different concentrations of santamarine for 24 h, and the images of the cells stained with Hoechst 33342 solution were captured in representative phase contrast (top) and fluorescence (bottom). The images represent three independent experiments performed in triplicate. Scale bar = 20 μm. (B) HeLa cells were treated with the specified dose of santamarine for 24 h, and then analyzed for the Annexin V-FITC and PI staining by flow cytometry. (C) The average value and SD of live cells, apoptotic cells, and necrotic cells in three independent experiments stained with Annexin V-FITC and PI after 24 h of HeLa cells treated with santamarine. (D) Santamarine activated intracellular caspase 3 activity in a concentration and time-dependent manner. HeLa cells were incubated with santamarine at the specified concentrations for 24 h, or 50 μM santamarine was used to treat HeLa cells for a specified time (inset), and the caspase 3 activity in the cell extract was detected by colorimetric analysis. The data was expressed as a percentage of the control sample. **p < 0.01 vs. the control group in (C) and (D).