EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Cell culture HCT-116 cells were grown in McCoy's 5A Medium (Fisher Scientific Company LLC, IL, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS, GE Healthcare Bio-science Corp, Marlborough, MA, USA) and 1% penicillin-streptomycin (Life Technologies Corporation, Grand Island, NY, USA). Cells were cultured in an incubator (HeraCell, Heraeus, Germany) at 37°C in presence of 5% CO2. Cells were passaged every two days when their confluence reached 80%. To perform cell passaging, 2 mL of trypsin-EDTA (Life Technologies Corporation, Grand Island, NY, USA) was introduced into a petri dish and incubated at 37°C for 3 minutes to detach the cells. Following this, 8 mL of cell culture medium was added to deactivate the trypsin enzymatic activity. Subculturing was carried out by transferring 1 mL of the cell suspension solution into 9 mL of fresh culture medium.