fig2

Figure 2. DCA promotes THP-induced apoptosis in liver cancer cells. Hep3B and Huh7 cells were treated with DCA (20 mmol/L), THP (300 nmol/L) or a combination of DCA and THP for 24 h. A: cells were processed for flow cytometry analysis, and the percentage of apoptotic cells was calculated as the percentage of PI and Annexin-V double-positive cells. Data are presented as the mean ± SD from three independent experiments; B: cells were stained with Hoechst 33258 and observed under a fluorescence microscope. The percentage of cells with apoptotic bodies was calculated; C: the activation of PARP was evaluated using Western blotting with α-tubulin as a loading control; D: the relative level of cleaved PARP was calculated. Data are presented as the mean ± SD from three independent experiments. ^**P < 0.01. DCA: dichloroacetate; THP: pirarubicin; PI: propidium iodide