Apoptosis of jurkat cells induced by ursolic acid and its mechanism / 中国实验血液学杂志

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the apoptosis effect of Jurkat cells induced by ursolic acid (UA) and its molecular mechanism so as to provide the theoretical basis for treatment of hematological malignancies by using UA. The cytotoxic effect of different concentration UA on Jurkat cells and inhibitory effect of caspase-9 inhibitor on cytotoxicity of UA were assayed by using WST-8 method; the Jurkat cells treated with 20 or 40 micromol/L UA for 2 or 4 hours were collected and were stained by Annexin/PI, then the apoptosis rate of Jurkat cells was detected by flow cytometry; the Jurkat cells in logarithmic growth phase were collected after treatment with different concentrations of UA for different times, the cell protein was extracted, then the activation of caspase-9, -3 and cytochrome C as well as phosphorylation level of Akt were determined by Western blot. The results indicated that the cytotoxic effect of UA on Jurkat cells was significant. UA induced apoptosis of Jurkat cells. Caspase-9, caspase-3 and cytochrome C were activated, and the phosphorylation of Akt was inhibited in the Jurkat cell apoptosis process induced by UA. It is concluded that the UA shows significant cytotoxic effect on Jurkat cells, UA can induce apoptosis of Jurkat cells through the mitochondria pathway. The mechanism may be associated with the inhibition of Akt phosphorylation.