Fig. 6

a Cell apoptosis rate detected by flow cytometry. A549 and A549/ADR cells were treated with different formulations that contained a total PTX concentration of 10 μM for 24 h. b Proteins involved in the apoptosis signaling pathways in A549 and A549/ADR cells as determined by Western blotting. ① Control (PBS); ② Taxol; ③ TP/PTX; and ④ TPH/PTX nanomicells. Activity ratios of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and expression ratios of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 in A549 and A549/ADR cells after incubation with the various formulations. β-actin was also assessed by Western blotting. All protein levels were quantified densitometrically and normalized to β-actin. All data are presented as the means ± standard deviations (n = 3); (1) Image of western blot; (2) Grey level of western blot. *P < 0.05, compared with TPH/PTX nanomicells. ^#P < 0.05, compared with Taxol in A549 cells