title: Involvement of the Bcl-2 family members in Pinus massoniana bark extract induced apoptosis in HeLa cells.
abstract: Pinus massoniana bark extract (PMBE) contains a variety of flavonoids whose antioxidant properties have been confirmed in vitro. This study was undertaken to evaluate the cytotoxic effects and the mechanism of cell death on the PMBE-treated human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa. PMBE treatment led to cell growth inhibition in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and PMBE-induced apoptosis was confirmed by DAPI staining, TUNEL assays and sub-G1 phase accumulation. Cell cycle was also arrested in G2/M phase. Immunoblotting analysis showed that cytochrome c was released, the protein expression of Bax was increased, the protein expression of Bcl-2 was down-regulated and caspase-9 and -3 were activated in PMBE-treated HeLa cells. Taken together, PMBE inhibited proliferation, induces apoptosis and causes cell cycle arrest in HeLa cells, indicating that PMBE may be a potential therapeutic agent for cancer.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and The Key Laboratory of Gene Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science, Sun Yat-sen (Zhongshan) University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
authors.forename: Hongling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jinfa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000378:metabolism; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival; D045304:Cytochromes c / Q000378:metabolism; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D028223:Pinus / Q000737:chemistry*; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D045304:Cytochromes c; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9