title: Essential oil from Siegesbeckia pubescens induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway in human HepG2 cells.
abstract: Siegesbeckia pubescens (SP) has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of and inflammatory diseases. However, the activities of SP against hepatocellular carcinoma and the related mechanisms remain unclear. The present study aimed to examine the effects of the essential oil of SP (SPEO) on the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells and the possible mechanisms. The growth inhibition of HepG2 cells was analyzed by MTT assay. Hoechst 33258 and fluorescence microscopy were utilized to observe the nuclear morphological changes of apoptotic cells. Flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis and cell cycle. The expressions of the target proteins were detected by Western blotting. The results showed that SPEO obviously inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. SPEO activated a series of apoptotic proteins in HepG2 cells, increasing expression levels of Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9, and decreasing the bcl-2 expression level. SPEO displayed promising anti-hepatocellular carcinoma activities in vitro, partly by inducing apoptosis in HepG2 cells through activating the mitochondrial pathway.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430065, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430065, China.
authors.forename: Kai-Wen
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Chan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Si-Jian
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Xin-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310000, China.
authors.forename: Li-Hong
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430065, China. wangqiang@wust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, 430074, China. xzyang@mail.scuec.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xin-Zhou
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000737:chemistry*; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010938:Plant Oils
keywords: Siegesbeckia pubescens; apoptosis; essential oil; hepatocellular carcinoma; mitochondrial pathway