ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the role of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in the diallyl disulfide (DADS)-induced apoptosis of K562 cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>K562 cells in the logarithmic growth phase were treated with 10, 20, 40, or 80 mg/L DADS for 48 hours, then fixed and stained with acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB), and examined for cellular morphological changes under an inverted microscope. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining was used for determining the apoptotic rates, and Western blot for measuring the expression of AKT, p-AKT, and Caspase-3. Two control groups, blank and solvent, were used as references.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>K562 cells treated with DADS for 48 hours exhibited the characteristic morphological features of apoptosis including cell shrinkage, irregular cell shape, and membrane blebbing. AO/EB staining results demonstrated that the number of apoptotic cells with cell shrinkage, pyknotic or bead-like nuclei, chromatin condensation, and orange staining increased with the increasing DADS concentration, and 40 mg/L DADS had the most significant effect. The apoptotic rates of cells treated with 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/L DADS were all significantly higher than those in the control groups (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in AKT protein expression between the K562 cells treated with different concentrations of DADS; the p-AKT protein expression decreased with the increasing DADS concentration, while the Caspases-3 protein expression increased with the increasing DADS concentration (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>DADS induces the apoptosis of K562 cells, probably through inhibiting the protein expression in the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.</p>