Increased apoptotic cell death induced by Dex-IR in H1650 lung cancer cells.

(A) Annexin V/propidium iodide double staining analysis of apoptosis in H1650 cells. H1650 cells were treated with Dex, Dex-IR, or DOXO as described in Fig 1 for 72 h. The bar graph shows the percentages of dead, living, early-apoptotic, and late-apoptotic cells according to treatment. Data are presented as the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments (*P < 0.05 vs. live cells in the medium; ^#P < 0.05 vs. early apoptotic cells in the medium; and ^§P < 0.05 vs. late apoptotic cells in the medium). (B) After treating H1650 cells with the same doses of the indicated drugs as described above for 24 h, the proteins were analyzed by Immunoblotting with antibodies against pro-Casp-3, cleaved Casp-3, PARP, and cleaved PARP. GAPDH was used to normalize the protein contents. (C) Dex-IR-induced apoptotic cells were detected by TUNEL assay (400× magnification). H1650 cells were treated with the drugs as described in Fig 1 for 12 h.