Mechanisms involved in Korean mistletoe lectin-induced apoptosis of cancer cells

Figure 3 Activation of caspases in COLO cells treated with VCA. A: COLO and WI-38 cells were treated without (-) or with (+) VCA (100 ng/mL) for 12 h. Cell lysates were prepared and western blots were performed using antibodies specific for each pro-caspase (PCas). Immunoreactive bands were visualized by chemiluminescence. Representative western blots are shown (left panel). Each band was quantified and normalized against the internal control (^®-actin). Normalized values were used to calculate the relative expression of each procaspase as a percentage of PBS-treated WI-38 cells. WP: WI-38 cells treated with PBS, WV: WI-38 cells treated with VCA, CP: COLO cells treated with PBS, CV: COLO cells treated with VCA. Values are mean±SE of three independent experiments (right panel). ^aP < 0.05 vs WP. ^cP < 0.05 vs CP; B: COLO cells were treated without (-) or with (+) VCA (100 ng/mL) for various times and western blots were performed and quantified as described for (A). Representative western blots of three independent experiments are shown (left panel). Each band was quantified and normalized against the internal control (^®-actin). Normalized values were used to calculate the relative expression of each procaspase as a percentage of COLO cells without VCA treatment at each time point (right panel).