NOXA-Induced Alterations in the Bax/Smac Axis Enhance Sensitivity of Ovarian Cancer Cells to Cisplatin
Figure 5
Alterations in the Bax/Smac Axis affect sensitivity of Ovarian Cancer Cells to Cisplatin.
(A) siRNAs targeting Bax significantly attenuated NOXA and/or cisplatin-induced apoptosis in chemosensitive A2780s cells (*P<0.01; **P<0.001). (B) siRNAs targeting Smac significantly attenuated NOXA and/or cisplatin-induced apoptosis in chemosensitive A2780s cells (#P<0.05; *P<0.01; **P<0.001). (C) Down-regulation of Bax or Smac by Bax siRNA or Smac siRNA were confirmed by Western blot. (D) Overexpression of Bax was confirmed by Western blot. (E) SKOV3 cells were co-transfected with NOXA and pc3.1-Bax plasmids for 12 hours, followed by 5 µg/mL cisplatin treatment for additional 12 hours. Overexpression of Bax significantly increased NOXA and/or cisplatin-induced apoptosis in chemoresistant SKOV3 cells (*P<0.01). (F) SKOV3 cells were treated with NOXA and/or cisplatin as described above, then with 20 µmol/L Smac-N7 peptide for an additional 3 hours. Smac-N7 peptide significantly increased NOXA and/or cisplatin-induced apoptosis in chemoresistant SKOV3 cells (#P<0.05; *P<0.01).