Fig. 3

Effect of Bcl-2 siRNA on apoptosis with the combination of curcumin with MMC in MCF-7 BCSCs. Apoptosis of MCF-7 BCSCs following treatment with curcumin at 5 μmol/L and MMC at 0.1 μmol/L for 7 days was analyzed after Bcl-2 or control siRNA treatment. A Cells were subsequently subjected to Annexin V-PI staining and flow cytometric analysis. B Cell morphology was observed through Hoechst 33258 staining and observed under a fluorescence microscope (× 200). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD (n = 3). *P < 0.05 vs. the combination treatment of curcumin and MMC. a Untreated control; b control siRNA; c Bcl-2 siRNA; d control siRNA and curcumin; e Bcl-2 siRNA and curcumin; f control siRNA and MMC; g Bcl-2 siRNA and MMC; h control siRNA, curcumin, and MMC; i Bcl-2 siRNA, curcumin, and MMC; j curcumin; k MMC; l curcumin and MMC