Fig. 5

Antitumor effects of Apt-NS-DOX on cell proliferation and apoptosis. A Cell viability analysis of both A549 and HELF cells treated with Apt-NS. B Cell viability analysis of A549 cells treated with free DOX and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively. C Cell viability analysis of HELF cells treated with free DOX and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively. D Colony formation assay of A549 cells treated with Apt-NS, DOX, and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively. E Quantitative analysis of the number of colonies of each group in (D). F Flow apoptosis assay of A549 cells treated with Apt-NS, DOX, and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively (Q1 means dead cells; Q2 means late apoptotic cells; Q3 means early apoptotic cells; Q4 means normal cells). G Quantitative analysis of cell apoptosis rate of each group in (F). H Western blot analysis displaying the expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins in A549 cells treated with Apt-NS, DOX, and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively. I Quantitative analysis of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins expression of each group in (H). GAPDH was used as an internal control. J The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax analysis in A549 cells treated with Apt-NS, DOX, and Apt-NS-DOX, respectively. Statistical analysis: *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 and ns, no significance