Activin A controls apoptosis of OSCC cells.

<p>Apoptotic cells were stained with annexin V-PE and propidium iodide and analyzed by flow cytometry. (A) Activin A blocked apoptosis of HaCat cells, reaching significant levels at concentration of 10 and 100 ng/ml. (B) Activin A reduced significantly apoptosis induced by staurosporine. Cells were treated with increased concentrations of activin A for 24 h, but in the last 4 h 0.03 μM of staurosporine were added to the cells. (C) Follistatin significantly induced apoptosis of SCC-9 ZsGreen LN-1 cells. (D) Activin A stable knockdown in SCC-9 ZsGreen LN-1 cells was significantly associated with increased levels of apoptosis. This phenotype was partially rescued adding 100 ng/ml of activin A. Bars represent the means ± SD of three independent experiments. *p>0.05, **p>0.01, ***p>0.005.