Fig. 1

Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of EEPK on human MEC cells. MC3 and YD-15 cells were treated with DMSO or various doses of EEPK (7.5, 15, and 30 µg/ml for MC3 and 10, 20, and 40 µg/ml for YD-15) for 24 h. The cytotoxic effect of EEPK was determined by trypan blue exclusion assay (a) and CCK-8 assay (b). c Representative images of DAPI-stained human MEC cells (magnification, 400×). The white arrows indicate apoptotic cells. Scale bar, 50 μm. d Annexin V/PI double staining was assessed using FACS analysis. e The population of sub-G₁ in human MEC cells with or without EEPK. f Western blot images showing the expression levels of c-caspase 9, c-caspase 3, and c-PARP. β-actin was used as an internal control. All bar graphs represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. ^*p < 0.05