Fig. 6

DCA + PX-478 induced significantly higher levels of apoptosis than DCA or PX-478 alone in MCF-7 and HeLa cells. Figure 6 shows the results of flow cytometric analysis with Annexin-V-FITC and propidium iodide in MCF-7 and HeLa cells. At 60% confluence, MCF-7 cells were treated with either the EC₅₀ dose of DCA or the EC₅₀ dose of PX-478, while HeLa cells were treated with the EC₅₀ dose of DCA and 0.5 times the EC₅₀ dose of PX-478. Three independent experiments were performed. Panel b shows bar graphs indicating the percentages of Annexin-VF-ITC-positive MCF-7 and HeLa cells. Significant differences compared to the control are marked with an asterisk (*). Representative dot plots are shown for MCF-7 cells in panel a. The combination of DCA and PX-478 led to the greatest percentage of Annexin-V-FITC-positive cells, and the percentage was significantly different from that of control, DCA-treated and PX-478-treated cells for both cell lines (**) (p = 0.004 and 0.042 for MCF-7 cells and HeLa cells, respectively)