Fig. 6

Caspase inhibition rescues apoptosis in RNF40 knockdown cells. Twenty-four hours after knockdown, HCT116 and SW837 cells were treated with 80 μM Z-VAD for 48 h to inhibit caspases in three independent experiments. a Morphologically, the appearance of siRNF40 cells was highly similar to the controls after Z-VAD treatment as exemplarily shown for HCT116 cells. Scale bar, 1 mm. b The percentage of adherent and detached cells was assessed. The proportion of dead cells was significantly reduced in HCT116 cells and a similar trend was observed in c SW837 RNF40 knockdown cells. Mean ± SEM, one-way ANOVA. c Western blot analysis revealed that Z-VAD treatment decreased the levels of cleaved PARP, while BIM remained unchanged after RNF40 knockdown in HCT116 and e SW837 cells