Decoction of Chinese Herbal Medicine Fuzheng Kang-Ai Induces Lung Cancer Cell Apoptosis via STAT3/Bcl-2/Caspase-3 Pathway

Figure 7

STAT3 knock-down enhanced the effect of FZKA on the activities of caspase-3, caspase-9, and Bcl-2 families. (a) STAT3 siRNA and control were transfected to H1650 cells and STAT3 expression was decreased in a dose-dependent manner. (b-c) H1650 cells were transfected with control or STAT3 siRNA for 24 h, followed by exposure of the cells to FZKA for an additional 24 h. Afterwards, caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities were detected using caspase-3/9 activity assay as described in Materials and Methods. Data represent means ± SD of three independent experiments. indicates significant difference as compared to the untreated control group (). (d–f) H1650 cells were transfected with control or STAT3 siRNA for 24 h, followed by exposure of the cells to FZKA for an additional 24 h. The protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and Bax were detected by Western blot. β-Actin was used as an internal control.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)