Fig. 11

Levels of Bcl-2, caspase-3, Bax and VEGF in DOX, dendrimer G2, dendrimer G2 + DOX and dendrimer G2 + DOX + IF7 treated HCT116 cells measured by Western blotting. The protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Caspase-3, Bax, and VEGF-A were analyzed in different study groups: G2, DOX, DOX + G2, and DOX + G2 + IF7, with the untreated controls serving as the baseline (fold change = 1). We used a one-way ANOVA test to compare the intensity of the bands between the different treatment groups. Quantitative data represent relative protein expression's mean ± standard deviation (SD). The expression levels were as follows: Bcl-2: G2 (0.77 ± 0.09), DOX (0.52 ± 0.10), DOX + G2 (0.44 ± 0.09), and DOX + G2 + IF7 (0.30 ± 0.05); Caspase-3: G2 (1.21 ± 0.05), DOX (2.28 ± 0.08), DOX + G2 (2.33 ± 0.09), and DOX + G2 + IF7 (3.91 ± 0.07); Bax: G2 (1.32 ± 0.10), DOX (2.78 ± 0.05), DOX + G2 (3.30 ± 0.04), and DOX + G2 + IF7 (5.22 ± 0.05); VEGF-A: G2 (0.79 ± 0.09), DOX (0.60 ± 0.06), DOX + G2 (0.51 ± 0.05), and DOX + G2 + IF7 (0.29 ± 0.05). Statistical significance was determined using Sidak's multiple comparisons test, with adjusted P values indicating significant differences (***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05) and ns indicating non-significant differences