Fig. 2

Effect of the combination treatment of curcumin and MMC on the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins. Western blot analysis of a Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bcl-w, caspase-8, and caspase-9; b Bax, caspase-3, mcl-1, and p53; and c Bak, Bid, Bad, Bik, and Bim upon treatment with curcumin and MMC alone or together in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 BCSCs. Cells were incubated with 5 μmol/L curcumin and 0.5 μmol/L MMC in MDA-MB-231 cells and 0.1 μmol/L MMC in MCF-7 cells and their combinations over 7 days. d The density ratio of proteins to GAPDH is shown as relative expression. Values are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). Experiments were repeated with similar results. *P < 0.05 vs. untreated control