Fig. 4

Cardamonin enhances ROS accumulation and reduces protein expression of Nrf2, NQO1 and HO-1. a DCFH-DA analysis showed that treatment with cardamonin (20 μM) for 4 and 6 h increased ROS accumulation in MDA-MB-231 cells. b Treatment with cardamonin (20, 40 and 80 μM) for 6 h increased ROS accumulation in MDA-MB-231 cells. c Treatment with cardamonin for 3, 6 and 12 h (20 μM) increased ATP production of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in MDA-MB-231 cells. The ATP production was detected by the Agilent’s Seahorse Bioscience XF96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer. d Treatment with cardamonin (20 μM) decreased ATP production of glycolysis in MDA-MB-231 cells at 12 h. e, f Treatment with cardamonin (20 μM) for 3, 6 and 9 h reduced the protein expression of Nrf2, NQO1 and HO-1 in MDA-MB-231 cells. Data are shown as mean ± SD; *, P < 0.05, **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001, ns means no statistical difference, compared with control. n ≥ 4