Rapid Akt activation by nicotine and a tobacco carcinogen modulates the phenotype of normal human airway epithelial cells
J. Clin. Invest. Kip A. West, et al. 111:81 doi:10.1172/JCI16147 [Go to this article.]

Figure 5
Nicotine alters NHBE phenotype. (a) Loss of contact inhibition. NHBEs were incubated with different concentrations of nicotine (filled symbols; asterisks indicate daily dosing) or complete media alone (open squares). Cell number was measured by absorbance at 540 nm using a 96-well microplate reader. (b) Serum starvation. NHBEs were grown in DMEM with 0.1% BSA or control media for 9 days with or without nicotine (10 μM) given once on day 1. Apoptosis was assessed using CellDeath ELISA kits. (c) Anoikis. Nicotine (left panel) or NNK (right panel) decreased anoikis, as measured using CellDeath ELISA kits. Pretreatment with LY294002 decreased protection conferred by either nicotine or NNK. Pretreatment with DHβE attenuated nicotine-mediated survival (left panel), and pretreatment with α-BTX attenuated NNK-mediated survival.