Induction of apoptosis with diallyl disulfide in AGS gastric cancer cell line

Diallyl disulfide (DADS) is a major organosulfur compound derived from garlic. It has been reported that DADS is able to inhibit the proliferation of several tumor cells. In this study, the effect of DADS was investigated in terms of the proliferation of AGS, gastric adenocarcinoma cell line at various concentrations.

The viability of cultured cells was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay. To detect the induction of apoptosis, Annexin V-FITC/propodium iodide (PI) staining assay was performed. Analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the distribution of cells in the cell cycle were measured by a flow cytometer. And using the Western blot analysis, the change of Fas, caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2 activity was measured.

The percentage of live AGS cells was decreased to 23% of that in the control group after 400 µM DADS treatment for 48 hours. The Annexin V positive/PI negative (apoptosis portion) area increased from low concentration of DADS to high concentration. When comparing among the DADS treatment groups, the amount of ROS production increased in a dose dependent manner. The percentage of sub-diploid DNA content increased from 8.71% at 50 µM to 25.74% at 400 µM DADS treatment group. The expressions of Fas, caspase-3, Bax were increased and that of Bcl-2 was decreased in a dose dependent manner.

DADS decreases the viability of AGS cell lines and induces apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. But the relationship of the anti-proliferative effect of DADS and related molecular changes were not clearly proportional to the concentration of DADS.