Research Article
BEZ235 Increases the Sensitivity of Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Sorafenib by Inhibiting PI3K/AKT/mTOR and Inducing Autophagy
Figure 4
The effect of SFB + BEZ on apoptosis in Huh7 and Huh7R cells. (a) Apoptosis rate as determined with Annexin V FITC/PI staining after treatment with various concentrations of sorafenib for 24 h and observed with flow cytometry. ×400 magnification. (b) Huh7 and Huh7R cells were treated for 24 h and observed with flow cytometry (SFB, 4 μM; BEZ235, 0.25 μM; and SFB, 4 μM + BEZ, + 0.25 μM). ×400 magnification. (c) The expression levels of caspase proteins (caspase 9, caspase 7, and PARP) in each treatment group (24 h) were analyzed by western blot. The ratios of apoptosis-related proteins to total protein were determined. Data are presented as , . , all versus SFB single-agent group. SFB: sorafenib; BEZ: BEZ235; SFB + BEZ: sorafenib combined with BEZ23. c-caspase 9: cleaved-caspase 9; c-caspase 7: cleaved-caspase 7; c-PARP: cleaved-PARP.
| (a) |
| (b) |