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Polyphyllin D induces apoptosis in K562/A02 cells through G2/M phase arrest
1Clinical Laboratory, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110004, China.
Objectives:
The effect of polyphyllin D on inducing cell death of the K562/A02 human leukaemia drug-resistant cells in vitro was examined.
Methods:
The effect of polyphyllin D on K562/A02 cells were analysed by studying their cytotoxicity, apoptosis, cell cycle distribution, caspase-3 activity and disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP).
Key Findings:
Polyphyllin D, a small molecular monomer extracted from rhizoma of Paris polyphyllin, exhibited strong anticancer activity in a previous study. Our results demonstrate that polyphyllin D exerts a growth inhibitory effect by arresting cells at G2/M phase and by the induction of apoptosis in K562/A02 human leukaemia drug-resistant cells, G2/M phase arrest was found to be associated with up-regulation of p21 and down-regulation of cyclin B1 and cyclin-dependent protein kinase 1. Polyphyllin D-induced apoptosis via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway as evidenced by decreased Bcl-2 expression levels, disruption of MMP and increased Bax, cytochrome C and cleaved-caspase-3 levels.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that polyphyllin D has a potential as a potent therapeutic agent for chronic myeloid leukaemia.
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