Figure 1

Monensin effectively inhibits cell proliferation and migration of gemcitabine-resistant pancreatic cancer cells. (A) Crystal violet staining assay. Subconfluent Panc-1 and MiaPaCa-2 cells were treated with gemcitabine (GEM) (a) or monensin (MON) (b) at the indicated concentrations. At 72 h post treatment, the cells were fixed and stained with crystal violet. Representative results are shown. (B) WST-1 assay. Panc-1 and MiaPaCa-2 cells were seeded in 96-well plates and treated with varied concentrations of gemcitabine (GEM) or monensin (MON). At 24 h (a) or 48 h (b) WST-1 reagent was added to plates and incubated for 30 min, and absorbance measurement was performed. All assay conditions were done in triplicate. “*”p < 0.05 and “**”p < 0.01, compared with that of the control groups. (C) Cell wound healing assay. Exponentially growing Panc-1 (a) and MiaPaCa-2 (b) cells were wounded with micro-pipette tips and treated with monensin at indicated concentrations. The gaps were recorded at 0 h, 12 h, 24 h, 36 h and 48 h after treatment. The dotted lines indicate the edge of the wound. Each assay condition was done in triplicate. Representative results are shown. (D) Transwell cell assay. Resuspended Panc-1 (a) and MiaPaCa-2 (b) cells were treated with 0 or 4 µM monensin, the cells migrated through the membrane were fixed, stained and quantitatively determined (c). Representative images are shown. “**”p < 0.01, compared with that of the control groups.