Abstract
Aim:
To examine whether the cell growth inhibitory effect of the combination of baicalin and baicalein is related to apoptosis. Moreover, to determine whether the expression of some apoptosis-related proteins is regulated by the ERK/p38 MAPK pathway.
Methods:
Cell viability was measured using a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Apoptosis was detected by acridine orange (AO) staining, DNA ladder assay and flow cytometric analysis. Apoptosis-related proteins were observed using Western blot analysis.
Results:
Compared with baicalin or baicalein alone, the combination treatment of baicalin (50 μmol/L) and baicalein (25 μmol/L) had an anti-proliferative effect in a time-dependent manner. Isobologram analysis demonstrated that the combination treatment had a synergistic effect. Moreover, apoptosis in MCF-7 cells was increased by 12% and 20% with the combination treatment at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. With the combination treatment in MCF-7 cells, cleaved caspase-3 and caspase-9 were observed, and the level of bcl-2 expression was decreased approximately 20% and 40% at 24 h and 48 h, respectively. The expression of bax and p53 were increased about 25% and 15% at 48 h, respectively. Moreover, the activation of caspase-3, -9 and the regulation of bcl-2, bax and p53 were related to ERK /p38 MAPK activation.
Conclusion:
In this study, apoptosis was enhanced by the combination treatment of baicalin and baicalein, which activated caspases-3 and caspase-9, downregulated the level of bcl-2 and upregulated the level of bax or p53 via the ERK/p38 MAPK pathway.
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25 November 2024
An Editorial Expression of Concern to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41401-024-01430-5
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by MOST of China (No 2006BAI08B02-06), the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission Project (No 08YZ54 and 07ZZ51) and the E-institutes of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (No E 03008).
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Zhou, Qm., Wang, S., Zhang, H. et al. The combination of baicalin and baicalein enhances apoptosis via the ERK/p38 MAPK pathway in human breast cancer cells. Acta Pharmacol Sin 30, 1648–1658 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/aps.2009.166
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/aps.2009.166
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