Inhibition of autophagy significantly enhances combination therapy with sorafenib and HDAC inhibitors for human hepatoma cells

Figure 2 Sorafenib, vorinostat, or the drug combination induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human hepatoma cell lines. HepG2, Hep3B and PLC/PRF/5 cells were treated with various concentrations of sorafenib (Sor), vorinostat (Vor), or the drug combination. A: Cell cycle distributions were analyzed by flow cytometry, and the percentage of cells in the G₀/G₁, S, or G₂/M phases of the cell cycle is indicated; B: The apoptosis-specific caspase-3 activity induced by various concentrations of sorafenib, vorinostat, or the drug combination. The results are expressed as mean ± SD from three independent experiments. ^bP < 0.01 using Student’s t test.