Fig. 2

ONC212 induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in cancer cells. a. The western blot demonstrated that ONC212 treatment gradually (24 h and 48 h) induced effective caspase-3 and PARP cleavage in both HeLa and A549 cancer cells. Caspase-8 cleavage did not occur upon ONC212 treatment. b. Flow cytometry histograms comparing apoptotic cell death via annexin-V-FITC staining assay in ONC212 treated HeLa and A549 cells for 48 h in the presence and absence of pan-caspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-FMK). c. Flow cytometry histogram plots showing ONC212-induced caspase-3,7 activity assessed by caspase 3/7 Magic Red staining of HeLa and A549 cancer cells. Etoposide (20 μM, 24 h) was used as the positive control. The shifting of the ONC212-treated cell population towards the right-side suggests enhanced caspase-3,7 activity