Study on effect of lycorine in inducing apoptosis of pulmonary carcinoma cell A549

Abstract

To explore the effect of lycorine in inducing apoptosis of pulmonary carcinoma cell A549 and its mechanism. In the study, pulmonary carcinoma cell A549 were taken as the experimental subject and processed with different concentrations of lycorine (0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 μmol x L(-1)). The MTT method was used to observe the cell proliferation. The apoptosis rate of A549 cells was determined by Annexin FITC/PI double staining. The microplate reader was used to detect the activities of Bcl-2, Bax and p53. The changes in mitochondrial membrane potential were measured by the flow cytometry. The expressions of apoptosis-related factors Bcl-2, Bax, p53 and Survivin were determined by Real-time PCR. The results showed that lycorine significantly inhibited the proliferation of A549 cells (P < 0.05), induced the apoptosis on A549 cells (P < 0.05), increased the activities of Bax and p53, reduced Bcl-2 activity and mitochondrial membrane potential, and notably changed the gene expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, p53 and Survivin (P < 0.05). In conclusion, lycorine can induce the apoptosis of A549 cells and be applied to treat pulmonary carcinoma. Its mechanism may be related to the activation of relevant factors in Bcl-2 signaling pathway.