Thymoquinone affects hypoxia-inducible factor-1α expression in pancreatic cancer cells via HSP90 and PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathways

Figure 14  Further validation of the effects of Thymoquinone on ubiquitination degradation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1αprotein. A: Western blot assay was performed to detect hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expression in von Hippel Lindau (VHL) knockdown PANC-1 cells treated with cycloheximide (CHX) at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h and 3 h under normoxia condition; B: Statistical analysis of HIF-1α protein expression in VHL knockdown PANC-1 cells treated with CHX at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h and 3 h under normoxia condition; C: Western blot assay was performed to detect HIF-1α expression in VHL knockdown PANC-1 cells treated with CHX + Thymoquinone (TQ) at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h and 3 h under normoxia condition; D: Statistical analysis of HIF-1α expression in VHL knockdown PANC-1 cells treated with CHX+TQ at 0 h, 1 h, 2 h and 3 h under normoxia conditions. ^aP < 0.01. CHX: Cycloheximide; VHL: von Hippel Lindau; sh-VHL: VHL knockdown; HIF-1α: Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α.