Comparative Studies on a Standardized Subfraction of Red Onion Peel Ethanolic Extract (Plant Substance), Quercetin (Pure Compound), and Their Cell Mechanism and Metabolism on MDA-MB-231

Figure 4

Flow cytometry of treated MDA-MB-231 apoptotic and necrotic cells after 72 h treatment. (a) Histograms of the apoptotic and necrotic distribution of MDA-MB-231 cells after treatment by flow cytometry. (A) MDA-MB-231 was treated with 0.1% DMSO for 24 h (control), (B) DMSO-treated for 48 h, (C) DMSO-treated for 72 h, (D) 50 μg/mL F1-treated for 24 h, (E) 50 μg/mL F1-treated for 48 h, (F) 50 µg/mL F1-treated for 72 h, (G) 60 μg/mL quercetin-treated for 24 h, (H) 60 μg/mL quercetin-treated for 48 h, and (I) 60 μg/mL quercetin-treated for 72 h. After staining with FITC-conjugated annexin and propidium iodide, the flow cytometer analyzed the cells. The lower left and upper left quadrants represent the percentage of viable and necrotic cells. In contrast, the early and late apoptosis events are shown in the lower and upper right quadrants. (b) Analyzed apoptotic and necrotic profiles of F1 (50 μg/mL) and quercetin (60 μg/mL) in MDA-MB-231 cells after (A) 24 h, (B) 48 h, and (C) 72 h of treatment. Each dataset represents the mean of two independent experiments with triplicate readings each. One-way ANOVA and Dunnett’s multiple comparison test were used to interpret statistically significant differences between treated and untreated cells (control) as and <0.001. EA: early apoptosis, LA: late apoptosis.

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