Figure 2

Determining the maximum non-toxic concentration of benzyl-α-GalNAc. (A) Percent cell viability of Capan-1 (○), HPAF-II (▪) and U-87 MG (Δ) cells was determined after exposing 1 × 10⁴ cells per ml to different concentrations of benzyl-α-GalNAc for 72 h. Percent viability of Capan-1 cells was significantly lower at concentrations greater than 0.4 mg ml⁻¹ (^#P<0.05 vs 0.8 mg ml⁻¹); whereas the viability of HPAF-II cells was significantly lower beyond 0.8 mg ml⁻¹ concentration (^*P<0.05 vs 2.0 mg ml⁻¹); no cell death was observed for U-87 MG cells upto 2.0 mg ml⁻¹ concentration. (B) Real-time RT–PCR showed MUC1 mRNA expression levels for Capan-1 >HPAF-II >U-87 MG. The exposure of these cells to benzyl-α-GalNAc (+) did not induce alteration in MUC1 mRNA expression levels when compared to cells not exposed to benzyl-α-GalNAc (−). (C) DIC microscopy images show morphology of cells that were not exposed to benzyl-α-GalNAc (−) compared to structure of cells following 72 h exposure to benzyl-α-GalNAc (+) (0.4 mg ml⁻¹ for Capan-1; 0.8 mg ml⁻¹ for HPAF-II and U-87 MG) (× 20 magnification).