Abstract
Background: Scutellaria barbata D.Don has been applied to treat cancers, inflammation and urinary disease. However, its antitumor mechanism still remains unclear. Methods: With methylene chloride fraction of Herba Scutellariae barbatae (MCSB), apoptosis-related experiments were carried out on human U937 leukemia cells by (a) 2,3-bis[2-4-nitro-5-sulphophenyl]2 H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide (XTT) assay for cytotoxicity; (b) terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay for morphological changes; (c) cell cycle analysis; (d) Western blot analysis of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), caspase-8, caspase-9, caspase-3 and Bax, Bcl-2 and cytochrome c expressions for apoptosis signaling pathway. Results: MCSB inhibited the proliferation of human U937 leukemia cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC 50=∼10 μg/ml). MCSB dose-dependently increased the sub-G 1 DNA contents by cell cycle analysis. DNA fragments indicating induction of apoptosis were observed in MCSB-treated U937 cells by TUNEL assay. Caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated while caspase-8 was intact by MCSB. Similarly, MCSB effectively cleaved PARP, increased the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 and released the cytochrome c from mitochondria during apoptosis in U937 cells. Conclusions: Our results suggest that MCSB can induce apoptosis via the mitochondria-mediated signaling pathway.
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