Figure 2. . Quercetin and 2-methoxyestradiol synergistically induced apoptosis in PC-3 cells by arresting cells in sub-G0/G1 phase and exhibiting enhanced caspase-3 activity by downregulating inhibitor of apoptosis protein.

(A) Graph depicting the percentage of cells in different phases of the cell cycle was analyzed after treatment with all the three groups of drug. (B) Quantization of cleaved caspase 3 in PC-3 cells after treatment with all the three treatment groups. Data represented as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. The statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc multicomparison test (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001). (C) Effect of all the three different groups of drug on the mRNA expression of survivin. Gene levels were normalized with β-actin and expressed as fold change with respect to the control group. Data represented as mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. The statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc multicomparison test (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001).

2-ME: 2-methoxyestradiol; EMT: Epithelial–mesenchymal transition; OD: Optical density; Qu: Quercetin.