Fig. 3

ABCA1 has strikingly enhanced TMZ resistance in glioma. a–c The diagram conducted by CellMinerCDB presents the negative correlation between ABCA1 expression level and the activity of TMZ. d, e In contrast with non-resistant cells (U118 and T98G), ABCA1 was significantly overexpressed in transcript and protein level across the TMZ-resistant cells (U118-R and T98G-R). f The western blotting indicated that ABCA1 expression was prominently decreased in TMZ-resistant glioma cells after knocking down certain base sequences GCTAGAACCCATAGCAACA (siABCA1-1) and CCAGCCAGCTTTGTCGTAT (siABCA1-2). g, h ABCA1 knockdown combined with TMZ treatment could facilitate the death rate of U118-R and T98G-R cells. i, j The relative cell survival of U118-R and T98G-R cells detected using CCK-8 significantly reduced with the higher treatment level of TMZ, and declined more sharply after ABCA1 knockdown. k, l ABCA1 knockdown and TMZ treatment at 100 μM restrained the clone-forming rate of U118-R and T98G-R cells. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01