Effect of Tibetan Medicine Oxytropis Falcata on Mitochondrial Transmembrane Potential and Expression of Apoptosis Related Proteins in SMMC-7721

OBJECTIVE To explore the influence of Oxytropis falcata on proliferation， mitochondrial membrane potential and expression of cytochrome C (Cyt C) and Caspase-3 proteins in SMMC-7721 cells. METHODS SMMC-7721 cells were treated with TFOF for 24h. Vitality of SMMC-7721 cells was tested by MTT assay. Flow cytometric measurement was used for investigating the effect of TFOF on induction of apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells and evaluating the effect on mitochondrial membrane potential in cells. Western blot was applied to investigate changes of Cyt C and Caspase-3 expression in cells. RESULTS The results showed that TFOF exhibited antiproliferative activity on SMMC-7721 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that TFOF caused a dose-dependent apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells. After being treated with TFOF of 0.05， 0.075， 0.1g/L， mitochondrial membrane potential levels of SMMC-7721 cells were lower than control group significantly. Western blot showed that Cyt C and Caspase-3 expression of SMMC-7721 cells was up regulated after TFOF treatment (P<0.05~0.01). CONCLUSION The results suggest that O. falcata may be a pro-apoptotic agent for hepatic cancer cells through mitochondrial apoptosis pathway and via its modulation of Cyt C and Caspase-3 expression.