Figure 3: Fucoidan inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in A549 cells.

(A) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (200 and 400 μg/ml) for 48 h. The cells were stained with annexin V-FITC and PI and subsequently analyzed using flow cytometry. (B) Quantification of fucoidan-induced apoptotic cells by annexin/PI double-staining. Apoptosis was evaluated by determining the percentage of annexin V-positive cells. The data are representative of three independent experiments and are presented as the mean ± the SD, and error bars indicate the SD. Significant differences are shown (***P < 0.001, compared with the control group). (C) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (200 μg/ml) for 12, 24 and 48 h. Then, Western blotting analysis of whole-cell lysates was performed to detect the expressions of pro (p)-caspase 3 and cleaved (c)-caspase 3. (D) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (0–400 μg/ml) for 24 h, and Western blotting of whole-cell lysates was subsequently performed to detect Caspase 3 expression. (E) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (0–400 μg/ml) for 48 h, and Western blotting of whole-cell lysates was subsequently performed to detect PARP expression. Actin was used as an internal control. (F) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (200 and 400 μg/ml) for 24 h, and Western blotting analyses of whole-cell lysates were subsequently performed to detect p21 expression. (G) A549 cells were treated with fucoidan (0 to 400 μg/ml) for 24 h, and Western blotting analyses of whole-cell lysates were subsequently performed to detect p-Akt (Ser 473) expression. Total AKT was used as an internal control.