Induction of apoptosis by total flavonoids from Scutellaria barbata D. Don in human hepatocarcinoma MHCC97-H cells via the mitochondrial pathway

• Published in: Tumor biology Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 2549 - 2559
• Main Authors: Gao, Jie, Lu, Wang-Feng, Dai, Zhi-Jun, Lin, Shuai, Zhao, Yang, Li, Sha, Zhao, Nuan-Nuan, Wang, Xi-Jing, Kang, Hua-Feng, Ma, Xiao-Bin, Zhang, Wang-Gang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Blotting, Western; Cancer Research; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - pathology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chinese medicine; DNA Fragmentation; Flavonoids - pharmacology; Flow Cytometry; Humans; Liver cancer; Liver Neoplasms - metabolism; Liver Neoplasms - pathology; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial - drug effects; Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial - physiology; Mitochondria; Mitochondria - drug effects; Mitochondria - metabolism; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Research Article; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Appptosis; Mitochondrial; Hepatocarcinoma
• ISSN: 1010-4283; 1423-0380
• DOI: 10.1007/s13277-013-1336-4

Scutellaria barbata D. Don, a traditional Chinese medicine, reportedly possesses antitumor activity against a variety of tumors. In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxic effect of total flavonoids from S. barbata (TF-SB) on human hepatocarcinoma cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms regarding the effect were explored. TF-SB treatment significantly reduced the cell viability of human HCC MHCC97-H cells in a dose-dependent manner. Further flow cytometric analysis showed that the apoptosis rate of MHCC97-H cells increased and the mitochondrial membrane potential (∆ψm) of MHCC97-H cells decreased after TF-SB treatment. DNA ladder showed that TF-SB induced a significant increase in DNA fragmentation in MHCC97-H cells. Reverse transcription PCR and Western blot analysis revealed that the expression levels of Smac, Apaf-1, Cytochrome c, Caspase-9, and Caspase-3 were upregulated in a dose-dependent manner and after treatment with different concentrations of TF-SB for 48 h. These results suggest that TF-SB induces apoptosis in MHCC97-H cells through the mitochondrial pathway.