Artesunate induces apoptosis via a ROS-independent and Bax-mediated intrinsic pathway in HepG2 cells

作者：Qin, Guiqi; Wu, Liping; Liu, Hongyu; Pang, Yilin; Zhao, Chubiao; Wu, Shengnan; Wang, Xiaoping^*; Chen, Tongsheng

来源：Experimental Cell Research, 2015, 336(2): 308-317.

DOI：10.1016/j.yexcr.2015.07.004

• Artesunate
• ROS
• Bax
• Apoptosis
• HepG2 cells

This study aims to explore the detail molecular mechanism by which artesunate (ARS), an artemisinin derivative, induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells. ARS induced a loss of mitochondrial transmemberane potential (Delta Psi(m)), phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization, as well as activations of Bax/Bak and caspases indicative of apoptosis induction. Silencing Bax but not Bak significantly inhibited ARS-induced apoptosis, demonstrating the key role of the Bax-mediated intrinsic pathway. Although ARS increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), ARS-induced apoptosis was neither prevented by pretreatment with ROS scavengers nor potentiated by pretreatment with L-buthionine-sulfoximine (BSO) that enhanced the ARS-induced intracellular ROS generation, demonstrating that ROS was not involved in ARS-induced apoptosis. In addition, ARS did not induce Bid translocation to mitochondria, and the cytotoxicity of ARS was not prevented by silencing Bim, Puma or Mcl-1, but was significantly enhanced by HA14-1 pretreatment, demonstrating that Bcl-2/-xl instead of Bid and Bim as well as Puma may be the upstream factor to regulate the Bax-mediated intrinsic pathway. Collectively, our data demonstrate that ARS induces ROS-independent apoptosis via the Bax-mediated intrinsic pathway in HepG2 cells.

• 出版日期2015-8-15
• 单位暨南大学; 华南师范大学