Autophagy was then determined by flow cytometry after staining with Cyto-ID®  (A). A498 cells were selleck chemicals treated with 150 nM EA, 0.1% DMSO, 1X NEAA, 200 μM VP16 or with 100 nM EA plus 1X NEAA for 46 h. Cell viability was then determined using the PrestoBlue® assay (B). A498 cells were treated as in (B) and then apoptosis was determined by measuring histone-associated DNA fragments by ELISA (C). Effect of inhibition of autophagy on cell death Having demonstrated that EA induces autophagy in A498 cells, the Enzalutamide mw question that arises is whether autophagy is a defense mechanism or a cell death mechanism. To answer this question, both cell viability and levels

of apoptosis were determined in independent experiments in which A498 cells were treated with and without NEAA (1X) in the presence and absence of 150 nM EA, or with 200 μM VP16 for 46 h. As shown in Figure 4B, the viability of cells treated with EA were similar to that receiving EA plus NEAA as determined by the PrestoBlue® assay. NEAA, alone, had no effect on the cells when compared to control cells receiving vehicle (0.1% DMSO), whereas, cells treated with VP16 lost viability as expected. These results indicated that inhibition of autophagy did not diminish cell death induced by EA. We then examined the levels of apoptosis in A498 cells treated in the same manner as in the viability experiments. The results NVP-HSP990 order of these experiments Galeterone demonstrated

that the levels of apoptosis were similar in cells treated with EA compared to those treated with EA plus NEAA indicating that inhibiting autophagy does not affect the level of apoptosis induced by EA (Figure 4C). It is noteworthy that the level of apoptosis induced by EA appears to be much less than that induced by VP16 (Figure 4B) even though the agents reduce cell viability to similar levels (Figure 4A). Taken

together, our results suggest that EA-induced autophagy does not appear to be a cell death mechanism, and is likely a defense mechanism that ultimately fails and cells die by a caspase-independent apoptotic cell death and by necrosis (Figures 1B and C). Effect of EA on cell cycle In order to gain insight into how EA might regulate cell proliferation in A498 cells, the effect of EA on cell cycle distribution was examined. In these studies, A498 cells were treated with 200 nM EA or with 0.1% DMSO (control) for 45 h. Cells were then stained after fixing and analyzed by flow cytometry as described under Methods. The results from these experiments demonstrated that cells treated with EA accumulated in the G2 phase of the cell cycle indicating a block in G2/M transition (Figure 5). Figure 5 EA blocks the G 2 /M transition of the cell cycle. A498 cells were treated with 200 nM EA or with 0.1% DMSO (control) for 45 h. The cells were then fixed and stained with PI. The PI content of cells was measured by flow cytometry as described under Methods.