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. |
- 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.