[Apoptosis of HL-60 cells induced by artesunate in vitro]

The study was aimed to investigate the effect of artesunate (ART) on the apoptosis of HL-60 cells in vitro and the expression of Bcl-2 and ICAD in the process of apoptosis induced by ART. The inhibition of ART on HL-60 cells were evaluated by means of MTT assay; cell apoptosis was detected by light microscopy, agarose gel electro-phoresis, flow cytometry; Western blot was used to analyze the expression of Bcl-2 and ICAD in cells during apoptosis induced by ART. The results showed that ART could significantly inhibit the proliferation of HL-60 cells in time-and dose-dependent manner. After treating HL-60 cells with ART for 48 hours, the IC(50) values was 18.33 microg/ml and its inhibition effect contributed to the induced apoptosis. Bcl-2 and ICAD proteins both all expressed in HL-60 cells, the level of expression declined as concentration increased. It is concluded that artesunate may induce apoptosis of HL-60 cells in vitro, Bcl-2 and ICAD may be an important control factor in the signal transduction pathway of ART-induced apoptosis.