Fig. 4

The effect of BH3 mimetic combinations on caspase 3/7 activity. The indicated cells were exposed to 66 μM of carboplatin in all cell lines or the indicated BH3 mimetic (as described in Methods) for 48 h (24 h for Ovcar-4) and the caspase activity then measured. The results (mean ± S.D., n = 3) were expressed as a fraction of the caspase activity measured in cells treated with carboplatin alone and were normalized to surviving cell number estimated by staining with SRB. The results were significantly different where indicated (*, P < 0.05, paired t-test) from the expected effect of the drug combination indicated with an horizontal solid line and calculated from the Bliss independence criterion and the effect of the single agents