Fig. 3

The anti-apoptotic effect of curcumin was partly reversed by ZnPP-IX. After pretreated with 15 μM of curcumin for 12 h in the absence or presence of 10 μM ZnPP-IX, the cells were washed and incubated with 400 μM H₂O₂ for 3 h. a, b Percentage of apoptotic cells was detected by flow cytometry analysis using Annexin-V FITC/PI staining. Apoptotic cells included Annexin V (+)/PI (−) and Annexin V (+)/PI (+) cells. c, d The Bcl-2, Bax, and CC3 protein expression were determined by western blot analysis. The Bcl-2/Bax ratio was calculated. Data were presented as mean ± SD (n = 3). *p < 0.05 vs. control, ^# p < 0.05 vs. H₂O₂, ^▲ p < 0.05 vs. H₂O₂ + curcumin