Fig. 4

Apoptosis induced by F3 fraction. a Apoptotic morphology changes of NCI-H358 lung cells 24 h after F3 fraction treatment (½ IC₅₀, IC₅₀ and 2 IC₅₀) in the absence (–NAC) or presence (+NAC) of N-acetylcysteine. Cells were stained with Hoechst 33258 and visualized by fluorescence microscopy (Zeiss Axioplan, Germany; magnification 400×). b Percentage of apoptotic cells induced by F3 fraction with or without NAC pre-treatment (3 mM for 1 h). Significances are shown in comparison to control and to the preincubated cells with NAC for each F3 fraction concentration (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; vs. control and ^# p < 0.05; ^## p < 0.01, vs. the corresponding dose of F3 fraction with NAC pre-treatment)