Qingjie Fuzheng granules inhibit colorectal cancer cell growth by the PI3K/AKT and ERK pathways

Figure 3 Effect of QFGs on HCT-116 and HCT-8 cells apoptosis. A: Cell apoptosis was detected by Hoechst 33258 staining and visualized under a fluorescent microscope (200 ×); B: Cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining with flow cytometry analysis, and the analysis results were quantified; C, D: The expression of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 were determined by western blot. β-actin was used as an internal control. Each band is representative of triplicate experiments. The band densities of western blots were quantitatively analyzed; E, F: The activities of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 were determined by using a caspase activity assay kit. ^bP < 0.01 vs the control group. QFGs: Qingjie Fuzheng granules; PI: Propidium iodide; FITC: Fluorescein isothiocyanate.