Fig. 3. Knockdown of APOC1 expression significantly increased ferroptosis of GBM cells induced by Erastin through increasing Fe²⁺ concentration and ROS level.

a Knockdown of APOC1 promoted ferroptosis of U87 and U251 cells induced by Erastin. Cells were treated with Erastin (10 μM) with or without ferroptosis inhibitor, Ferrostatin-1 (1 μM), apoptosis inhibitor, Z-VAD-FMK (10 μM), necrosis inhibitor, Necrosulfonamide (10 μM) for 24 h. b Knockdown of APOC1 increased ROS production in U87 and U251 cells. Quantitative analysis of ROS level in indicated treatment U251 and U87 cells. c Knockdown of APOC1 increased intracellular Fe²⁺ in U251 cells. Representative images of Fe²⁺ in three assays were shown. Scale bar = 50 μm. d Knockdown of APOC1 increased lipid ROS level in U87 cells. Experiments were performed in triplicate. Data are presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). Statistical significance was determined by Student’s t test or one-way ANOVA, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. NC.