Dihydroartemisinin Enhances Apo2L/TRAIL-Mediated Apoptosis in Pancreatic Cancer Cells via ROS-Mediated Up-Regulation of Death Receptor 5
Figure 1
DHA synergistically enhances Apo2L/TRAIL-induced cell death in BxPC-3 cells.
(A) Cells were treated with DHA alone, Apo2L/TRAIL alone or a combination of the two agents and incubated at 37°C for 72 h. The viability of the cells was assessed using the MTT method. Combination index (CI) versus fraction affected (Fa) plots obtained from median-effect analysis of Chou-Talalay. A CI>1 indicates antagonism, = 1 indicates additivity, and <1 indicates synergy. (B) The clonogenic assay was performed as described in the Materials and Methods section. The cells were treated with DHA (50 µmol/L) alone, Apo2L/TRAIL (100 ng/ml) alone or the combination of the two drugs for 24 h and washed with PBS. The cells were then incubated for an additional 7 d and stained with crystal violet. (C) Clonogenic survival is presented as the percentage of surviving colonies formed in drug-treated cells with respect to untreated cells.