Apoptosis-inducing Effect of Fructus Trichosanthis in HL-60 Leukemic Cells

백혈병 세포주 HL-60에서 과루실(瓜蔞實)의 세포고사 유도 효과

Many naturally occurring plant extracts are studied for their beneficial effects for health and particularly on cancer. Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, occurs in both normal and pathological conditions, including cancer. Dysregulation of apoptosis allows transformed cells to continually and uninhibitedly enter the cell cycle, thus perpetuating the sequence of mutation, genomic instability and, finally, oncogenesis. To investigate the apoptosis-Inducing effect of the extract of Fructus Trichosanthis (EFT) on leukemic HL-60 cells and its mechanism, HL-60 cells in vitro in culture medium were given different doses of the extract. The inhibitory rate of cells were measured by microculture tetrazolium assay, cell apoptotic rate was detected by flow cytometry, morphology of cell apoptosis was observed by DAPI fluorescence staining, and the activations of caspases and PARP were detected using Western blotting analysis. The extract could activate the caspase-3 and caspase-8, induce PARP cleavage, inhibit growth of HL-60 cells, and cause apoptosis significantly. The suppression was in dose-dependent manner. Marked morphological changes of cell apoptosis including condensation of chromatin and nuclear fragmentation were observed clearly by DAPI fluorescence staining especially. These results will provide strong laboratory evidence of EFT for clinical treatment of acute leukemia.