Figure 3.

Dehydrocrenatidine (DHCT) modulates the nicotine treatment effect on HCC cells. (a) The image represents the chemical structure of DHCT. (b) Cell viability assay for IC₅₀ evaluation of DHCT treatment on both Huh7 and HepG2 HCC cells were determined by CCK-8 assay. (c) The relative reduction in protein expression of α7nAChR and p-JAK2 by Western blotting, (d) qRT-PCR analysis denoted the relative reduction at mRNA level of Ki67, Cyclin D1, JAK2, and α7nAChR after DHCT treatment on nicotine stimulated cells. (e) DHCT-treated HCC cells (Huh7 and HepG2) cells were harvested; cell cycle was analyzed as the percentage of cells at each stage of the cell cycle after DNA staining with PI. Data from one of the representative experiments (from at least three independent assays); ^∗∗p < 0.01 versus controls (Student's t-test).