ABSTRACT
Aim Toinvestigatetheinducementeffect of isatin on apoptosis of breast cancer cell line MCF-7 , andexploreitsdetailedmechanism.Methods MCF-7 cell lines were exposed to isatin at different concentra-tions(0,50,100,200 μmol·L-1 )for 48 h.Apop-totic features were demonstrated by nuclei staining with Hoechst 33258.Bcl-2,Bax and p53 mRNA were ana-lyzed by RT-PCR.Caspase-9 activation and mitochon-drial depolarization were assayed by flow cytometry. Bcl-2,Bax,p53 and cytochrome c proteins were ana-lyzedbyWesternblot.Results Isatininducesapopto-sis of MCF-7 cells.Furthermore,Bcl-2 expression was decreased and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax was significant-ly decreased by isatin.While,p53 expression relative-ly decreased.The mitochondrial transmembrane poten-tial was markedly reduced and the release of cyto-chrome c into the cytosol was increased after treatment with isatin.Simultaneously,caspase-9 was activated. Conclusions Isatinsignificantlyinducedtheapopto-sis of MCF-7 cells in vitro.These results strongly sug-gest that the p53 dependent mitochondrial pathway is involved in apoptosis.