Figure 2

DHA triggers apoptosis and autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells. (A, B , E) Immunoblot analysis of LC3 and caspase-3 levels in BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cell lines treated with different concentrations of DHA for 24 h, or treated with 50 μmol/L DHA for different times in the presence or absence of 10 mmol/L 3MA. (C) Representative electron micrographs of BxPC-3 cells treated with 50 μmol/L DHA for 24 h in the presence or absence of 10 mmol/L 3MA. (D) Top, representative images of GFP-LC3 staining in BxPC-3 cells transfected with the GFP-LC3 plasmid, followed by 50 μmol/L DHA for 24 h with or without 3MA (10 mmol/L); bottom, number of GFP-LC3 dots scored in 100 transfected cells. Bar: 5 μm. (F) BxPC-3 and PANC-1 cells were treated with 50 μmol/L DHA for 24 h in the presence or absence of 10 mmol/L 3MA or 1 μmol/L rapamycin or Atg 5 siRNA. The percentage of dead cells was determined by a CCK-8 assay. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.