Nicotinic receptors modulate antitumor therapy response in triple negative breast cancer cells

Figure 7 Effect of nicotine on paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 cells. Tumor cells were treated with paclitaxel (10^-7 mol/L) in the absence or presence of the following nicotinic antagonists: mecamylamine [non-selective for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)], methyllycaconitine (selective for α7 nAChRs), or luteolin (selective for α9 nAChRs) at a concentration of 10^-6 mol/L. The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry. Values are the mean ± SD of four experiments performed in duplicate. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01; ^cP < 0.001 vs control; ^dP < 0.001. MM: Mecamylamine; MLA: Methyllycaconitine; Lut: Luteolin; PX: Paclitaxel; NIC: Nicotine.