Studies on evodiamine induced HeLa cell apoptosis / 药学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>AIM</b>To study the mechanism of evodiamine-induced growth inhibition of HeLa cells.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HeLa cells viability and the effect of caspase inhibitors on evodiamine-induced apoptosis were measured by crystal violet assay. Changes in cellular morphology were observed by phase-contrast microscopy. Apoptosis-specific nucleosomal DNA fragmentation was assayed by agarose gel electrophoresis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Evodiamine was found to inhibit HeLa cell growth in dose- and time-dependent manners. Caspase-3 inhibitor, z-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-fmk (z-DEVD-fmk) was shown to partially inhibit evodiamine-induced apoptosis. However, caspase-1 inhibitor, Ac-Tyr-Val-Ala-Asp-chloromethyl-ketone (Ac-YVAD-cmk), did not antagonize evodiamine induced cell death.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Evodiamine suppresses the growth of HeLa cells in vitro by apoptosis. Evodiamine-induced apoptosis is partially dependent on caspase-3 pathway in HeLa cells. Other apoptotic pathways might be also related to the induction of apoptosis by evodiamine.</p>