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Table 2 Verified synergies

From: Synergisms of genome and metabolism stabilizing antitumor therapy (GMSAT) in human breast and colon cancer cell lines: a novel approach to screen for synergism

Combination

Cell line

MDIS

C & T

MDA-MB

DCA

+ NHI-2

MCF-7

+++

0.27*

0.62*

HT-29

0.50*

Nutlin-3

+ PX-478

MCF-7

+++

0.33*

0.62*

HT-29

+

0.63*

PRIMA-1met

+ YM155

MCF-7

++

0.34*

n.d.

DCA

+ Metformin

MCF-7

++

0.51*

n.d.

PRIMA-1met

+ NHI-2

HT-29

+

0.24*

n.d.

Nutlin-3

+ PRIMA-1met

HT-29

+

0.89

n.d.

Nutlin-3

+  3-Bromopyruvate

MCF-7

+

0.72

n.d.

  1. Table 2 shows the seven combinations that were selected for further verification by the method of Chou and Talalay. The third column shows the predictions by MDIS: + indicates a “possible” ++ a “likely”‚ +++ a “very likely” synergism and no synergism. The respective best CI-values calculated by the method of Chou and Talalay (C & T) are listed in the fourth column. They were marked with an * if unpaired T-test was significant for the respective concentration of the combination in comparison with the single compounds. A CI-value indicates the quality of a synergism at a specific concentration. A value below 0.3 indicates a “strong”, 0.3 to 0.7 a “robust” and 0.7 to 0.85 a “moderate” synergism. In the case of MDA-MB cells, CI-values were calculated by the method of Loewe with the help of the earlier obtained dose response curves and Graphpad Prism. The resulting CI-values are listed in the fifth column. Combinations that were not analysed in MDA-MB-231 cells are marked with n.d. Out of the seven verified synergies, we could prove all “likely” and “very likely” (4/4) but only two of the four “possible” synergisms (two combinations had no significant CI-value below 0.9). Details concerning the combinations (the complete dose response curve and all the respective CI-values) can be found in Figs. 5 and 6 as well as in the Additional file 1.