Fig. 4

Ropivacaine’s inhibitory effects were abolished by active Ras overexpression or RhoA activator in melanoma cells. Overexpression of constitutively active Ras significantly reversed the effects of ropivacaine (2 mM) in decreasing Ras activity (a), inhibiting migration (b), decreasing BrdU level (c) and inducing apoptosis (d) in A431 cells. RhoA activator calpeptin significantly reversed the effects of ropivacaine (2 mM) in decreasing RhoA activity (e), inhibiting migration (f) and decreasing BrdU level (g) in A431 cells. (h) Calpeptin did not reverse ropivacaine’s effect in inducing apoptosis in A431 cells. (i) Western blot of A431 cells treated with ropivacaine for 24 h. Representative western blot photos were shown. *p < 0.05, compared to p-Vec or -Calpeptin