Figure 7.

Inhibition of PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK pathways synergistically/additively enhanced sulforaphane (SFN)-induced apoptosis and FOXO transcriptional activity in pancreatic cancer cells. (A and B), PANC-1 and AsPC-1 cells were pretreated with AKT inhibitor IV (1 μM) and/or MEK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 (10 μM) for 2 h, followed by treatment with SFN (10 μM) or DMSO (control) for 48 h. At the end of incubation period, cells were harvested and apoptosis was measured by TUNEL assay. Data represent mean ± SD. * = significantly different from respective controls, P < 0.05. (C and D), PANC-1 and AsPC-1 cells were transiently transfected with 6X DBE-luciferase construct for 24 h. After transfection, cells were pretreated with AKT inhibitor IV (1 μM) and/or MEK1/2 inhibitor PD98059 (10 μM) for 2 h, followed by treatment with SFN (10 μM) or DMSO (control) for 24 h. Cells were harvested for firefly/Renilla luciferase assays using the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega). Luciferase counts were normalized using Renilla luciferase transfection control (pRL-TK; Promega). Data represent the mean ± S.D. *, #, ** = significantly different from respective controls, P < 0.05.