Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Ethyl Alcohol Extract of Hizikia fusiforme Induces Caspase-dependent Apoptosis in Human Leukemia U937 Cells by Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species

Chang-Hee Kang¹, Sang-Hyuck Kang¹, Sung-Hwan Boo¹, Sung-Young Park², Yung H Choi³, Dong-Oh Moon⁴, Gi-Young Kim¹

¹Laboratory of Immunobiology, Department of Marine Life Sciences, Jeju National University, Jeju 690-756; ²OTTOGI Research Institute, OTTOGI Ltd., Gyeonggi-do 431-070; ³Department of Biochemistry, College of Oriental Medicine, Dongeui University, Busan 614-054; ⁴Department of Biology Education, College of Education, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 712-714, Republic of Korea.

For correspondence:- Gi-Young Kim Email: immunkim@jejunu.ac.kr Tel:+82647543427

Received: 27 March 2011 Accepted: 20 October, 2011 Published: 25 December 2011

Citation: Kang C, Kang S, Boo S, Park S, Choi YH, Moon D, et al. Ethyl Alcohol Extract of Hizikia fusiforme Induces Caspase-dependent Apoptosis in Human Leukemia U937 Cells by Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species. Trop J Pharm Res 2011; 10(6):739-746 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v10i6.6

© 2011 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: Hizikia fusiforme is renowned for the possession of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. In this study, the role of the ethyl alcohol extract of H. fusiforme (EAHF) in the induction of apoptosis in human leukemia U937 cells was investigated.

Methods: Protein expression was investigated by Western blot analysis. Cell viability and apoptosis were analyzed by an MTT assay and flow cytometric analysis. Caspase activity was analyzed using a caspase-specific kit.

Results: EAHF suppressed the proliferation of U937 cells in a dose-dependent manner. This effect was closely related to the induction of apoptosis via the downregulation of IAP family members such as IAP-1, IAP-2 and XIAP, as well as Bcl-2 proteins. The results also showed that caspases play an essential role in EAHF-induced apoptosis by generating of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, ROS scavenging by N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and glutathione (GSH) decreased EAHF-induced apoptosis via the suppression of caspase activity. Although EAHF induced the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), treatment with MAPK inhibitors did not affect EAHF-induced apoptosis.

Conclusion: These results suggest that EAHF induces apoptosis in U937 cells via ROS-dependent caspase activation.

Keywords: Hizikia fusiforme, Apoptosis, Caspase, Reactive oxygen species