Figure 5.

Determination of calpain and caspase-3 activities using Western blot analysis of α-spectrin breakdown products (SBDPs). Four treatment groups: control (CTL); 40 μM dexamethasone (DXM) for 8 h; 100 μM temozolomide (TMZ) for 6 h; pretreatment with 40 μM DXM for 2 h followed by 100 μM TMZ for 6 h. (A) A representative gel picture showing generation of 145 kD and 120 kD SBDPs. (B) A representative gel picture showing level of expression of β-actin. (C) Densitometric analysis showing percent changes in optical density of the calpain-specific 145 kD SBDP over CTL. (D) Densitometric analysis showing percent change of optical density of the caspase-3-specific 120 kD SBDP over CTL. Significant difference between CTL and TMZ treated cells was indicated by * (P ≤ 0.05) and significant difference between TMZ treated cells and DXM plus TMZ treated cells was indicated by # (P ≤ 0.05).