Fig. 7: FTH1/FTL protects ovarian cancer cells from platinum caused DNA damage.

A, B Western blot analysis of FTH1 and FTL expression in ovarian cancer cells following treatment with various concentrations of FeCl₃ or carboplatin for 72 h. C Knockdown of FTH1 in Kuramochi cells using siRNA, with siNC as a control. Subsequent CCK-8 assay to assess carboplatin sensitivity in the presence of FeCl3 (100 µM). D Proposed mechanistic hypothesis of iron in platinum chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. E Immunofluorescence assay evaluating p-γ-H2AX expression in FTH1-knockdown cells treated with or without carboplatin. F Immunofluorescence assay assessing the effect of FeCl3 in reducing carboplatin-induced DNA damage in FTH1-knockdown cells. G Immunofluorescence assay for the co-localization of POLQ and RAD51 in FTH1-knockdown cells treated with or without carboplatin for 72 h. H Statistical analysis of the colony formation assay to determine the impact of varying FeCl3 concentrations on clonogenicity in FTH1-knockdown cells. I Statistical analysis for (E). J Statistical analysis for (F). Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (SD) from three independent experiments. ****p ≤ 0.0001, ***p ≤ 0.001, **p ≤ 0.01, *p ≤ 0.05 and ns p > 0.05.