Figure 3

Cell death inhibitor screen. (A) NSCLC cells were treated with combinations of erlotinib and pitavastatin: untreated (E0P0), pitavastatin 10 µM (E0P10), erlotinib 5 µM (E5P0) and erlotinib 5 µM/pitavastatin 10 µM co-treatment (E5P10). Cells were co-treated with either 10 µM Nec 1, 10 µM Fer1, 10 µM Calp1, 100 µM zVAD or 1 mM Mev. Proportions of dead cells were determined via flow cytometry. Cell death of E5P10 treated cells was significantly inhibited by zVAD or Mev in Calu6 (F(5,11) = 36.71, p < 0.0001; q(zVAD) = 8.153, q(Mev) = 8.255), H1993 (F(5,11) = 13.81, p = 0.0001; q(zVAD) = 4.707, q(Mev) = 4.553) and A549 (F(5,11) = 20.37, p < 0.0001; q(zVAD) = 6.714, q(Mev) = 6.859) cells. Statistical significance was determined via one-way ANOVA and Dunnett’s test. Data are given as arithmetic mean ± SD from three independent experiments. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. (B) Representative flow cytometry dot plots of E5P10 treated cells unsupplemented (CTL) or supplemented with the indicated inhibitors (Mev, Nec1, zVAD) from different experiments. Dot plots were generated using FlowJo vX.0.7.