FIGURE 4.

Iron exacerbates DOX cardiotoxicity. H9C2 cells were treated with ferric ammonium citrate (FAC) or deferoxamine (DFO) and DOX (10 µM) as indicated in the Methods section. ROS levels were analyzed by MitoSOX fluorescence (A). Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay (B). Caspase-3 and cleaved caspase levels were determined by western blot analysis (C–F). Data were expressed as mean ± SEM. Statistical significance was assessed using the Student’s t-test or ANOVA with Tukey’s post-hoc comparisons. *p < .05 vs. control. Scale bar = 10 µm.