Fig. 7

Decreased drug resistance by induced growth preference. Cells were cultured in high glucose (25 mM) DMEM for 24 h and then cultured in low-glucose (5.56 mM) DMEM with or without 1 mM sodium pyruvate. After 24 h, the cells were treated with the indicated concentrations of etoposide (sorafenib) and the controls were treated with the vehicle (DMSO) for 48 h. Cell viability was determined using the absorbance value of WST-8. Cell viability assays were performed in quadruplicate and were repeated three times (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005, ****p < 0.001, *****p < 0.0005; Student’s t-test). HCC indicates hepatocarcinoma