Antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects of hemin in hepatoma cells

Hemin is an extremely versatile molecule that may have cytotoxic or cytoprotective effects on certain cells. We investigated the effect of hemin on the growth of hepatoma cells, including the multidrug-resistant ones. Searching for new tools that interfere with the growth of hepatomas is an important area of clinical research. Cell viability and proliferation of drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant hepatoma cell lines was determined using the trypan-blue exclusion test XTT/PMS and colony-forming ability assays. Apoptosis was assessed by confocal microscopy and DNA ladder assay. Hemin inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis in both drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant hepatoma cells overexpressing functional P-glycoprotein. zVAD-fmk inhibited the hemin-induced decrease in cell viability, pointing to a role of caspases in hemin-induced apoptosis. The antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing effects of hemin might be considered in the design of treatment for patients with hepatoma.