Aprepitant Promotes Caspase-Dependent Apoptotic Cell Death and G2/M Arrest through PI3K/Akt/NF-κB Axis in Cancer Stem-Like Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Spheres

Figure 5

(a) Following exposure to aprepitant (30 μM) for 24 hours, total lysates from ESCC cell spheres were collected and ELISA assay was performed using human p53 and P21 ELISA kit. (b) The mRNA expression levels of three genes (p53, p21, and Bax) were analysed in each group after normalizing the cycle threshold (Ct) values to GAPDH as the internal housekeeping gene. The apoptosis-related genes of p53 were not substantially enhanced in ESCC cell spheres by aprepitant. ELISA and qRT-PCR analyses showed that aprepitant plus SP treatment has no meaningful enhancement impact on proapoptotic target genes of p53 transcription activity. () indicates a statistically significant difference compared to controls, while the (^#) sign indicates a statistically significant change compared to SP 500 nM treatment group.

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