Figure 1

Antiproliferative and apoptosis inductive activities of apigenin. (a) Chemical structure of apigenin. (b) Viability/proliferation-inhibitory effect of apigenin on the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line. MDA-MB-231 cells were treated for 24 hours with increasing concentrations of apigenin followed by a 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay. (c) Activation of caspase-3/caspase-7 activity in MDA-MB-231 cells treated with indicated concentrations of apigenin for 24 hours, followed by measuring the caspase-3/caspase-7 activity in cell extracts. (d) Examination for morphological changes visualized by phase-contrast imaging (100× magnification). Three independent experiments were performed and each individual experiment was tested in triplicate ((b) and (c)). Similar results were found with all experiments and the data shown represent one experiment; bars, standard deviation. DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.