Fig 1: Continentalic acid reduces expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members and dissociates mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). (a) Continentalic acid was added in Ly1 and U2932 cells, and the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and Bcl-xl was detected by Western blot 24 h later. ß-actin served as a control for equal loading. A representative of three independent experiments is shown. (b) Ly1 and U2932 were treated with continentalic acid for 24 h and stained with JC-1, followed by monitoring of MMP by fluorescence microscopy. Red (J-aggregates) and green (J-monomers) colors represent intact and disrupted MMP, respectively. (c) MMP was calculated using flow cytometry to monitor the JC-1 fluorescence ratio of J-aggregates (red) and J-monomers (green). Statistical significance was calculated using the two-tailed Mann–Whitney test (* p < 0.05).