title: Pyrrolizidine alkaloid clivorine induces apoptosis in human normal liver L-02 cells and reduces the expression of p53 protein.
abstract: Clivorine, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid, is a potent toxic compound extracted from a Chinese medicinal plant Ligularia hodgsonii Hook. We have previously shown that clivorine inhibited human normal liver L-02 cells proliferation and induced p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation. The aim of this study is to further observe the mechanism of clivorine-inhibited L-02 cells growth. In this paper we show here that clivorine can induce apoptosis in L-02 cells, reduce the expression of p53 protein but has no effect on the expression of Bcl-2 protein, and clivorine also induces the cleavage of the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in L-02 cells. Our results suggest that the anti-proliferative function of clivorine in L-02 cells may be due to its inducing cell apoptosis, and clivorine-induced cell apoptosis is independent of p53 protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, China Pharmaceutical University, 1 Shen Nong Road, Nanjing 210038, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Mian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yu-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Zheng-Tao
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D006690:Bisbenzimidazole; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002452:Cell Count; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000633:toxicity; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids / Q000633:toxicity*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases; D006690:Bisbenzimidazole; C028677:clivorine