Fig. 6

MK-2206 enhances Taxol-induced growth inhibition of ovarian cancer cells, especially in circPLEKHM3 knockdown cells. a Immunoblotting analyses of P-AKT1 in A2780 scramble and circPLEKHM3 knockdown cells treated with different concentrations of the AKT1 inhibitor MK-2206 or DMSO for 1 h. b Cell viability of A2780 scramble and circPLEKHM3 knockdown cells treated with different concentrations of MK-2206 for 48 h. c Cell viability of A2780 scramble and circPLEKHM3 knockdown cells treated with different concentrations of Taxol combined with 0.3 μM MK-2206 for 48 h. d The synergistic index of combination treatment of Taxol and MK-2206 in A2780 scramble and circPLEKHM3 knockdown cells. Different concentrations of Taxol (0.3 nM, 0.6 nM, 1.2 nM, 2.4 nM and 4.8 nM) were combined with 0.3 μM MK-2206 in the treatment. e Potential molecular mechanisms of circPLEKHM3 in ovarian cancer. CircPLEKHM3 functions as a tumor suppressor in ovarian cancer cells by sponging miR-9 to enhance the endogenous suppressive effect of BRCA1, DNAJB6 and KLF4, and consequently inactivate AKT1 and Wnt-β catenin signaling pathways