Hepatocellular Carcinoma Growth Is Inhibited by Euphorbia helioscopia L. Extract in Nude Mice Xenografts

Figure 4

Bcl-2, bax, and caspase-3 protein expressions in nude mouse xenografts. ((a)–(f)) Immunohistochemical staining detected bcl-2, bax, and caspase-3 protein expressions in xenografts. The significant changes of bcl-2, bax, and caspase-3 protein expressions in EAE treatment groups compared to controls; after EAE treatment bcl-2 protein expression was decreased as shown in (a) and (d), but bax and caspase-3 expressions were increased as shown from (b) to (f) (red arrow), ×400 magnification. ((g), (h)) The protein expressions of bcl-2, bax, and caspase-3 in xenografts were analyzed by Western blot. Total protein was extracted from xenografts and subjected to Western blot analyses. As shown compared with the control group (), bcl-2 protein expression was obviously reduced, but bax and caspase-3 expressions were increased. As EAE concentration increasing the quantity of protein expressions have presented a significantly change trend, and the effect of EAE 200 μg/mL better than 5-Fu 200 μg/mL ().

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