Effect of EpCAM silencing and/or 5-FU treatment on the morphology of MCF-7 cells.

<p>A. Morphologic changes of MCF-7 cells treated with the indicated concentration of si-EpCAM and 5-FU alone or together for 48 h. Magnification: 100×. B. MCF-7 cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of si-EpCAM and 5-FU alone or together for 48 h, then stained with DAPI (400×). Condensed and fragmented nuclei in cells are indicated by arrowheads.</p

Effect of EpCAM silencing and/or 5-FU treatment on apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

<p>A: Apoptosis was examined using annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometry analysis. A representative flow cytometric analysis of apoptosis in MCF-7 cells is shown. The fluorescence intensity of annexinV/FITC is plotted on the x-axis, and PI is plotted on the y-axis. FITC−/PI−, FITC+/PI−, FITC+/PI+, FITC−/PI+ was regarded as living, early apoptotic, late apoptotic and necrotic cells, respectively. B: The percentage of apoptotic cells was examined by annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometry analysis. Results are presented as mean±SD of three separate experiments. *P<0.05 versus 5-FU.</p

Effect of si-EpCAM and/or 5-FU treatment on apoptosis-related factors in MCF-7 cells.

<p>(A) MCF-7 cells were treated with 7.5 µg/ml and 20 µg/ml 5-FU for 48 h. Cells were harvested and analyzed by western blotting with antibodies against Bcl-2, Bax and caspase3. (B) MCF-7 cells were treated with si-EpCAM and/or 5-FU (7.5 µg/ml) for 48 h, and the expression of Bcl-2, Bax and caspase 3 was determined by immunoblotting.</p

Effect of si-EpCAM and/or 5-FU treatment on cell viability in vitro.

<p>MCF-7 cells were treated with 5-FU (7.5 µg/ml and 20 µg/ml) and/or si-EpCAM. A. MCF-7 cells were treated with si-EpCAM, the expression of EpCAM was detected. A negative siRNA control and Lipofectamin 2000 were served as control. B. Cell viability was detected with the CCK-8 assay. Cell viability was expressed as a percentage of control cells (MCF-7 cells). B. The results are presented as the inhibitory ratio of MCF-7 cells. *P<0.05.</p