G. Srinivas, R. J. Anto, P. Srinivas
Jul 25, 2003
Citations
4
Influential Citations
181
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
European journal of pharmacology
Abstract
Emodin (1,3,8-trihydroxy-6-methylanthraquinone) is an active herbal component traditionally used in China for treating various ailments. Emodin exerts antiproliferative effects in many cancer cell lines and the actual molecular mechanism of which is still not clear. Since apoptosis could be a potential mechanism to explain these effects, we tested whether emodin induces cell death in human cervical cancer cells. Our results suggest that emodin exerts antiproliferative effects in human cervical cancer cells. Emodin inhibited DNA synthesis and induced apoptosis as demonstrated by increased nuclear condensation, annexin binding and DNA fragmentation in Bu 25TK cells in the presence of emodin. Moreover, we demonstrate for the first time in human cervical cancer cells that the apoptotic pathway involved in emodin-induced apoptosis is caspase-dependent and presumably through the mitochondrial pathway, as shown by the activation of caspases-3, -9 and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase.