Nanoscale Features of Gambogic Acid Induced ROS-Dependent Apoptosis in Esophageal Cancer Cells Imaged by Atomic Force Microscopy

Figure 8

Effects of gambogic acid on cell membrane ultrastructure of EC9706 cells after 24 h treatment. AFM morphology and membrane ultrastructure images of (a) control, (b) 0.4 μM gambogic acid-treated, (c) 1.2 μM gambogic acid-treated, (d) 2 μM gambogic acid-treated, (e) 5 mM NAC+2 μM gambogic acid-treated, and (f) 5 mM NAC-treated EC9706 cells. (A1-F1) Topography images of EC9706 cells, scale bar: 10 μm. (A2-F2) Enlarged cell membrane ultrastructure images of EC9706 cells as indicated by the blue frames in (A1-F1); scale bar: 400 nm. EC9706 cells in (e, f) were pretreated with 5 mM NAC for 1 h and then treated with or without gambogic acid for 24 h to determine the effects of ROS scavenger-NAC on gambogic acid induced membrane ultrastructure changes in EC9706 cells by AFM imaging in air with contact mode.