Cell culture C6 glioma cells were supplied by Dr. Takashi Masuko (Kinki University, Osaka, Japan) and cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (Sigma) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS) (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA), 100 μg/ml penicillin (Gibco), 100 U/ml streptomycin (Gibco), and 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.4; Wako) in an atmosphere containing 5% CO2. U251MG cells were provided by Health Science Research

Resources Bank (Osaka, Japan) and cultured in minimum essential medium (Sigma) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum Kinase Inhibitor Library price (Gibco), 100 μg/ml penicillin (Gibco), 100 U/ml streptomycin (Gibco), and 25 mM HEPES (pH 7.4; Wako) in an atmosphere containing 5% CO2. Cell viability Cell viability was quantified by using a trypan blue dye assay. The cells (2000 cells/well) were plated in 96-well plates and incubated with various concentrations of mevastatin, fluvastatin, and simvastatin for 24, 48, and 72 h. After incubation, the cells were stained with trypan blue, and the number of stained cells was counted. Measurement of caspase-3 proteolytic

activity We measured the caspase-3-like enzyme activity by monitoring proteolytic cleavage of the fluorogenic substrate Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-7-Amino-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin (Selleck Z IETD FMK DEVD-AFC) using the ApoTarget caspase-3 protease assay kit (BioSource International Inc., Camarillo, CA). The C6 glioma cells were incubated with or without mevastatin, fluvastatin, and simvastatin CP690550 for 24 h. The cells were then collected, Sinomenine washed in PBS, and lysed in the lysis buffer provided in the aforementioned kit. The assay was performed by incubating a solution of cell lysates containing a 50 μM substrate at 37°C for 1 h. We fluorometrically measured the release of 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin from the substrate by using a fluorescence spectrophotometer (F-4010, Hitachi)

at an emission wavelength of 505 nm and an excitation wavelength of 400 nm. Caspase-3 activity (measured on the basis of proteolytic cleavage of the caspase-3 substrate DEVD-AFC) was expressed in terms of change in substrate concentration (in pM) per h per mg of protein, after correction for the protein content of the lysates; the protein content of the cell lysate was determined by using the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) protein assay kit (Pierce, Rockford, IL, USA). Western blotting C6 glioma cells treated with statins were lysed with a lysis buffer containing 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 8.0), 150 mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA, 100 mM NaF, 1% NP-40, 1 μg/ml leupeptin, 1 μg/ml antipain, and 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. The protein content in the cell lysates was determined using a BCA protein-assay kit. The extracts (40 μg protein) were fractionated on polyacrylamide-SDS gels and transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes (Amersham, Arlington Heights, IL, USA).