title: Platycodon grandiflorum induces apoptosis in SKOV3 human ovarian cancer cells through mitochondrial-dependent pathway.
abstract: Platycodon grandiflorum (Jacq.) A. DC., a Chinese food and medicine, has been used as expectorant traditionally. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Platycodon grandiflorum extract (PGE) on SKOV3 ovarian cancer cells. 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to monitor cell numbers, Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining, RT-PCR and Western blot were used to examine cell apoptosis, caspases activation. Bcl-2 and Bax expressions and mitochondrial cytochrome c release. Our result showed that PGE-induced apoptosis was associated with activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9, down-regulation of Bcl-2, up-regulation of Bax and release of mitochondrial cytochrome c to cytosol. The data indicate that PGE may have anti-tumor effect mainly via caspase-3 and caspase-9 dependent apoptotic pathway.
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Ruile
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Liwei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jingtian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Xinmin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031238:Platycodon / Q000737:chemistry*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D010936:Plant Extracts