NPB304 treatment promoted paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in MCF-7/paclitaxel cells.

(A) After treatment with the indicated compounds for 72 h, the cells were stained with PI and annexin V-FITC and subjected to flow cytometry analyses. (B) MCF-7/paclitaxel cells were subjected to Western blotting to measure cleaved PARP and p53 levels after 72 h of treatment. Relative protein levels were quantified by densitometry and are shown in the histogram. The experiments were performed three times. The data represent the mean ± SD. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, one-way ANOVA (n = 3). (C) NPB304 promoted the microtubule polymerization and nuclear fragmentation induced by paclitaxel. After treatment with paclitaxel with or without NPB304 for 72 h, the cells were incubated with an anti-α-tubulin antibody followed by a FITC-conjugated secondary antibody and stained with DAPI. Images were overlaid electronically after detection by confocal microscopy. Bar = 50 µm.