Title:Hederagenin Induces Apoptosis of Human Hepatoma HepG2 Cells via the
Mitochondrial Pathway
Volume: 27
Issue: 10
Author(s): Zhuo Liu, Xiaoning Tan, Lian Peng, Wenhui Gao and Puhua Zeng*
Affiliation:
- Affiliated Hospital, Hunan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410006, P.R. China
Keywords:
Hederagenin, liver cancer, apoptosis, mitochondrial pathway, prognosis, pro-apoptosis.
Abstract:
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the antitumor effects of hederagenin
(HDG) in liver cancer (LC) cells and explore the related mechanisms.
Materials and Methods: HepG2 cells were treated with HDG and cisplatin, respectively. The
CCK8 assay was used to detect cell activity, DAPI staining was used to detect the proportion of
living cells, TUNEL assay to detect the proportion of apoptotic cells, flow cytometry to detect
the membrane potential, fluoroscopic electron microscopy to detect microstructural changes to
the mitochondrial, and western blot analysis and high-content screening to detect apoptosisrelated
proteins.
Results: Treatment with HDG inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells, decreased the proportion of viable
cells, increased the proportion of apoptotic cells, and significantly increased the proportion of cells in
the G1 phase. Fluorescence staining showed that HDG damaged the mitochondria of HepG2 cells and
significantly decreased the number of mitochondria. Flow cytometry showed that HDG decreased the
mitochondrial membrane potential of HepG2 cells. Observations by electron microscopy showed that
HDG caused swelling and vacuole formation of the mitochondria of HepG2 cells. HDG significantly
reduced the average fluorescence intensity of Bcl-2 in HepG2 cells and significantly increased that of
the pro-apoptosis proteins Bax, Cytochrome-c, and Caspase-3.
Conclusion: HDG induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells via the mitochondrial pathway.
