Figure 12

The role of AMPK production in thapsigargin-stimulated TRAIL-induced apoptosis in ESCC cells.

After treated with AMPK siRNA for 48 h, the ESCC cells were administrated with thapsigargin (1 μM) and the TRAIL (100 ng/ml) for 24 h. (A) Viability is shown as OD values. (B) Apoptosis is shown as apoptotic index. (C) ROS concentrations are shown. (D) The intracellular Caspase 9 activity levels are shown. The two indexes in the control group were defined as 100%. (E) Representative Western blot results of the key proteins, including CHOP, p-AMPK, DR5, Caspase 9, Bcl2, and Bax are shown. Membranes were re-probed for β-actin expression to show that similar amounts of protein were loaded in each lane. The results are expressed as the mean ± SD; n = 6. ^aP < 0.05 vs. the control siRNA group in EC109 cells, ^abP < 0.05 vs. the control siRNA group in TE12 cells.