Figure 4.

ZQL-4c induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells. MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and SK-BR-3 cells were treated with 0, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 μmol/L ZQL-4c for 24 h. (a) Light microscopy showed apoptosis-related changes induced by ZQL-4c. (b) Cells were stained with annexin V/PI and analyzed by flow cytometry. (c) The percentage of apoptotic cells is shown in the histogram. Data are expressed as the mean ± standard mean of the error of three independent experiments performed in triplicate (n = 3; ^∗P < 0.05). (d) The protein levels of cleaved caspase-3,-7,-9, p53, Bax, and Bcl-2 were detected by western blotting. Actin was used as a loading control.