Tetrazolium violet inhibits cell growth and induces cell death in C127 mouse breast tumor cells.
Tetrazolium violet (TV), a tetrazolium salt, has been applied in several fields, including estimating respiration rate, as a redox indicator of microbial growth, and for estimating the number of viable animal cells. It has recently been found that TV is capable of inducing apoptosis in rat glioblastoma cells by way of an elusive mechanism. In this study, we demonstrated that TV also induced apoptosis in mouse breast tumor C127 cells as evidenced by nucleus condensation and nucleus fragmentation. Our data showed that TV caused activation of caspase-3 and caspase-8, but not caspase-9. An enhancement in Fas and its two ligands, membrane-bound Fas ligand (mFasL) and soluble Fas ligand (sFasL), might be responsible for the apoptotic effect induced by TV. Also, the results first reported that TV not only inhibited C127 cells proliferation but also blocked cell cycle progression in the G1 and G2 phase, determined by MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis. Immunofluorescence assay demonstrated that TV significantly increased the expression of p53 protein, which caused cell cycle arrest. Taken together, p53, Fas/FasL, and the caspase apoptotic system may participate in the antiproliferative activity of TV in C127 cells.
Zhao
Yun-Feng
YF
School of Life Science, Qufu Normal University, No. 57, Qufu Jingxuan West Road, Qufu 273165, Shandong Province, PR China. zhaoyf1989@yahoo.com.cn
Kong
Qing-Zhong
QZ
D000818:Animals; D020169:Caspases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D008325:Mammary Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D019014:fas Receptor; C531352:tetrazolium violet; D020169:Caspases