Fig. 7
Activation of MDR signalling cascades in ALI multilayered cultures exposed to anti-cancer drugs by direct inoculation. Western blot analysis of the expression of various proteins in A549 cells forming a ALI multilayered mono-cultures or b ALI multilayered co-cultures. Proteins analysed are: phospho-mTOR (p-mTOR), phospho-AKT (p-AKT), AKT, phospho-SMAD2 (p-SMAD2), MCL-1, phospho-MDM2 (p-MDM2), phospho-p53 (p-p53), cIAP-1, cIAP-2 and survivin. Cultures were exposed to docetaxel (Doc), vinblastine (Vin), cytarabine (Cyt) or methotrexate (Met) at their nominal IC50 concentration for 72 h. The expression of the proteins under study in untreated cultures (NT) is also reported for comparison. Abbreviations “n1”, “n2” and “n3” indicate different biological replicates. β-actin and GADPH expressions are reported as protein loading control