Magnification used was

60x. Bar, 25μm. GF120918 research buy Figure 6 Quantification of marked cells was done by GDC-0449 price flow cytometry of HepG2 cells. Annexin V staining (Green Fluor-Log-Y) and PI staining (Red Fluor-Log-X) of HepG2 (B) and Huh7 (C) cells are shown. Values are shown on quadrants as means and standard errors of the mean SEM). Figure 7 Quantification of marked cells was done by flow cytometry of Huh7 cells. Annexin V staining (Green Fluor-Log-Y) and PI staining (Red Fluor-Log-X) of HepG2 (B) and Huh7 (C) cells are shown. Values are shown on quadrants as means and standard errors of the mean SEM). NAC increases IFN-a antitumoural responses mediated by NF-kB Pathway inhibition We then explored the role of the NF-kB pathway on NAC and IFN-α toxicity using siRNA-mediated p65 knockdown (KD cells). At 24 h post-transfection, a greater reduction of 95% of p65 expression levels was observed both through fluorescence microscopy (data not shown) and real-time PCR (Figure 8). Figure 8 Knock down of p65 subunit shown by real-time PCR. Relative quantification of p65 normalised by the expression of GAPDH in HepG2 and Huh7 cells 24 hours after transfection. Values are shown as means and standard errors of the mean (SEM). a- siRNAp65x COsiRNA p<0.01-HepG2. b- siRNAp65x COsiRNA p<0.01-Huh7.

The combined treatment with p65 siRNA with IFN-α for 24 h showed a decrease in cell viability that was comparable to that observed in NAC plus IFN-α treatment. On PCI-32765 cell line the other hand, suppression of p65 did not sensitise cells to NAC, suggesting that the

mechanism of action of NAC primarily involves reduction of NF-kB (Figures 9 and 10). Figure 9 Effects of IFN and NAC on cell viability of HepG2 cells with p65 knock down. HepG2 cells were treated 24 h after siRNA duplexes transfection with IFN 2.5×104 U/mL and/or NAC 10 mM, and cell viability was determined after 24 hours of treatment. Values are shown as means and standard error of media (SEM). a- COsiRNA+NAC x COsiRNA x siRNAp65 p<0.01. b- siRNAp65 x COsiRNA x siRNAp65+IFN p<0.05. c- siRNAp65+IFN x COsiRNA x COsiRNA +NAC x siRNAp65 x siRNAp65+NAC GNE-0877 (10 and 20 mM) p<0.05. Figure 10 Effects of IFN and NAC on cell viability of Huh7 cells with p65 knock down. Huh7 cells were treated 24 h after siRNA duplexes transfection with IFN 2.5×104 U/mL and/or NAC 10 mM, and cell viability was determined after 24 hours of treatment. Values are shown as means and standard error of media (SEM). a- COsiRNA+NAC x COsiRNA x siRNAp65 p<0.01. b- siRNAp65 x COsiRNA x siRNAp65+IFN p<0.05. c- siRNAp65+IFN x COsiRNA x COsiRNA +NAC x siRNAp65 x siRNAp65+NAC (10 and 20 mM) p<0.05. Discussion Given that the efficiency of IFN-α is only marginal in treating HCC, our study aimed to evaluate the effect of NAC on IFN-α toxicity, and how the co-treatment of NAC and IFN-α modulates cell death and growth inhibition in HCC human cell lines.