title: Induction of apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines by emodin.
abstract: Previous experiments have shown that emodin is highly active in suppressing the proliferation of several tumor cell lines. However, it is not clear that emodin can induce growth inhibition of hepatoma cells. We have found that emodin induces apoptotic responses in the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HCC) Mahlavu, PLC/PRF/5 and HepG2. The addition of emodin to these three cell lines led to inhibition of growth in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Emodin generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these cells which brought about a reduction of the intracellular mitochondrial transmembrane potential (DeltaPsim), followed by the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3, leading to DNA fragmentation and apoptosis. Our findings demonstrate that ROS and the resulting oxidative stress play a pivotal role in apoptosis. Preincubation of hepatoma cell lines with the hydrogen peroxide-scavenging enzyme, catalase (CAT) and cyclosporin A (CsA), partially inhibited apoptosis. These results demonstrate that enhancement of generation of ROS, DeltaPsim disruption and caspase activation may be involved in the apoptotic pathway induced by emodin.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Xubin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Jidong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hiroyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imanishi
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hada
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology*; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle; D016923:Cell Death; D002455:Cell Division; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004642:Emodin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013997:Time Factors; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D016572:Cyclosporine; D004247:DNA; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D002374:Catalase; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; C506433:CASP9 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9; D020169:Caspases; D004642:Emodin