Fig. 3

Suppressing AKT signaling resensitizes Sar-R HNSCC cells to saracatinib. a The effect of saracatinib on cell viability in Sar-R HN8 and the parental cells determined by CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Kit on day 3 after treatment. b The phospho-AKT and -ERK1/2 in WT and Sar-R HN8 cells determined by Western blotting. c The effect of AKT-DN transfection on AKT activation in Sar-R HN8 cells determined by Western blotting. d The effect of AKT-DN transfection on cell viability in the presence or absence of saracatinib determined by CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Kit on day 3 after treatment. e The effect of capivasertib on the AKT-S6 signaling in Sar-R HN8 cells determined by Western blotting. f The effect of capivasertib on cell viability in the presence or absence of saracatinib determined by CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Kit on day 3 after treatment. g The effect of combined capivasertib and saracatinib on 3D cell growth on day 12 after treatment. The representative result and quantitative data from three independent experiments were shown in the left and right panels, respectively. EV: empty vector; AKT-DN: a dominant-negative form of AKT (K179 M). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01