Xihuang pills induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma by suppressing phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway

Figure 4 Inhibitory effects of Xihuang pills extract on the expression of components of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mechanistic target of rapamycin signalling pathway both in vivo and in vitro. A: The protein expression levels and ratios of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase-B/mechanistic target of rapamycin (PI3K/Akt/mTOR) and p-PI3K/p-Akt/p-mTOR in SMMC-7721 cells were detected using Western blotting; B: PI3K/Akt/mTOR mRNA expression levels in SMMC-7721 cells, as determined using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); C: PI3K/Akt/mTOR mRNA expression levels in SMMC-7721 cells after treatment with different concentrations of Xihuang pills (XHP), as measured using RT–qPCR; D: Levels of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR and p-PI3K/p-Akt/p-mTOR proteins in SMMC-7721 cells treated with different concentrations of the XHP extract were detected using Western blotting. Relative protein and mRNA expression levels are shown in representative histograms. The experiment was repeated three times, and the data are presented as the means ± SD. ^aP < 0.05 and ^bP < 0.01 compared with the control group; ^cP < 0.05 and ^dP < 0.01 compared with the XHP 0.625 group; ^eP < 0.05 and ^fP < 0.01 compared with the XHP 1.25 group.