ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the mechanisms of the effect of isoflavone in reducing prostate cancer incidence throught studying the effects of isoflavone on apoptosis in PC-3 cell. Methods: Prostate cancer cell PC-3 was grown in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% bovine serum and 10 000 U/ml of penicillin/streptomycin in an incubator maintained at 5% CO 2 95% air and 100% humidity at 37 ℃. The respective test compound was added in fresh medium and the control cell received only the vehicle (MDSO). Apoptosis of PC-3 cells was analyzed by cell morphology under light microscope, agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry. Results: Exposure of PC-3 cell to 50 ?mol/L GS, 75 ?mol/L DA and 75 ?mol/L GL after 72 h, the cell morphology indicated typical features commonly used to define apoptosis; agarose gel electrophoresis demonstrated laddered electrophoretic profiles of oligonucleosomal DNA fragments indicative of apoptosis, and flow cytometric analysis revealed a hyperdiploid population in the tested cells. Conclusion: Isoflavones could induce apoptosis in prostate cancer cells PC-3 and it may be the main cause of their role in cancer inhibition.