Figure 4.
Overexpression of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 members blocks metformin-induced sensitization of leukemic cells. Mec-1 cell line and stable cell lines overexpressing Bcl-XL or Mcl-1 were incubated with 2 mM metformin (white bars) for 3 days before overnight incubation at 1:1 E:T ratio with e-NK cells or eCTLs. The specific killing of tumor cells (7-AAD+) was quantified by FACs. The data represent means ± SD; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 Student's t-test compared to cells not treated with metformin.