Rk3 induces apoptosis and autophagy by blocking the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in esophageal cancer cells.

(A) Cells were pretreated with GSK690693 (25 nM) or rapamycin (50 nM) for 2 h and then incubated with 150 μM Rk3 for 24 h. The inhibition of cell proliferation was detected using MTT assays. (B) and (C) The expression of apoptosis- and autophagy-related proteins was analyzed by western blotting after pretreatment with inhibitors. Cells were treated as stated above. *p #p ##p < 0.01 compared with the Rk3-treated group.