Combination of Mitochondrial and Plasma Membrane Citrate Transporter Inhibitors Inhibits De Novo Lipogenesis Pathway and Triggers Apoptosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells

Figure 6

Effect of citrate transporter inhibitors on DNL pathway in HepG2 cells. Cells were treated with CTPi, PMCTi, and the combination of 0.4 mM of each inhibitor at IC₅₀ concentrations of each for 24 h. The control was defined as a vehicle for which cells were exposed to a medium containing 0.2% DMSO alone. An equal amount of total protein extracts was subjected to an immunoblotting assay to detect expression of FASN, ACC, and ACLY proteins. β-actin was used to normalize equal amount and intensity of protein bands. (a) The expression of lipogenic proteins was detected by immunoblotting technique and visualized using a CCD camera. (b) Quantified density values were obtained and expressed as a percentage of β-actin/protein ratio. (c)-(d) Intracellular citrate and fatty acid levels were quantified as described in materials and methods. The data shows mean ± SEM. from three independent experiments.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)