Baicalein Induces Apoptosis and Autophagy via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Figure 4

Baicalein induces ER stress. (a) Morphology change of HCC cells after the treatment of 100 μM Baicalein (100x). (b and c) Levels of UPR proteins in SMMC-7721 (b) and Bel-7402 (c) cells were determined by western blotting after the treatment of the indicated dose of baicalein for the indicated time. Tunicamycin (TM, 5 μg/mL) treatment for 6 h was used as positive control of ER stress induction. CON: control cells without drug treatment. GAPDH served as a loading control. (d) Intracellular calcium level of HCC cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cells were treated with the indicated concentration of baicalein for 24 h. (e) Median fluorescence intensity of calcium probe in HCC cells after treatment of the indicated dose of baicalein for 24 h. *𝑃<0.05, compared with control group.

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