Fig. 5

RWF extract induced apoptosis of BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells via activating the ER and autophagy pathways. a The ER stress, autophagy and apoptosis-associated proteins were analyzed by immunoblot analysis. BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells were pretreated with or without 500 µM autophagy inhibitor 3-MA for 2 h in advance and treated with or without 500 µg/ml RWF extract for another 24 h (to induce ER stress and autophagy) or 48 h (to induce apoptosis). b, c Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay in BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells. d BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells were pre-treated with or without 250 µM ER-stress inhibitor 4-PBA for 2 h in advance and treated with or without 500 µg/ml RWF extract for another 24 h (to induce ER stress and autophagy) or 48 h (to induce apoptosis). e, f Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay in BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells. Data were presented as mean ± SD of at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, or ***p < 0.001