Effects Of Astragalus Polysaccharide On Apoptosis Of Cervical Carcinoma Hela Cells

Background and ObjectivesCervical carcinoma seriously endangers the health of women. Apoptosis block has an important role in the occurrence and development of cervical carcinoma. Therefore, it is important to explore the ways to induce apoptosis of cervical carcinoma cells for treatment of cervical carcinoma. Astragalus is a common traditional Chinese medicine, of which astragalus polysaccharide (APS) is one active component.It has been shown that APS was able to inhibit the growth of many tumor cells. However, the effects of APS on apoptosis of cervical carcinoma Hela cells have not been reported yet. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of APS on apoptosis of cervical carcinoma Hela cells and its mechanisms, so as to provide the experimental basis for the feasibility of APS used in the treatment of cervical carcinoma.Methods1. APS was prepared and then quantitated.2. Based on the results of preliminary experiments, the experimental group:cervical carcinoma Hela cells treated with 200ug/mL APS for 48h, the control group:cervical carcinoma Hela cells untreated with APS.3. The apoptosis of cervical carcinoma Hela cells before and after treated with APS was detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI combined with flow cytometry and Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL).4. The expressions of apoptosis-related gene (Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, Bax, Smac and IAP-1) in cervical carcinoma Hela cells before and after treated with APS were detected by Western blotting assay.Results1. The quantitative result of prepared APS solution was 53.623mg/mL.2. AnnexinV-FITC/PI combined with flow cytometry results revealed that the apoptosis cells of cervical carcinoma Hela cells in experimental group were significantly increased than that cervical carcinoma Hela cells in control group (P<0.01). The apoptotic cells percentages of cervical carcinoma Hela cells in control group and experimental group were 0.773% and 28.278%, respectively.3. The results of TUNEL indicated that the apoptosis cells of cervical carcinoma Hela cells in experimental group were obviously increased than that cervical carcinoma Hela cells in control group (P<0.01).4. Western blotting results showed that:compared with control group, the expressions of Bcl-2 and IAP-1 in APS group were decreased significantly (P<0.01), the expressions of Bax and Smac were increased (P<0.01), whereas Bcl-XL expression was no significant difference (P>0.05). showedThe data from Western blotting displayed that the expressions of Bcl-2 (P<0.01) and IAP-1 (P<0.01) in cervical carcinoma Hela cells of experimental group were significantly lower than that in cervical carcinoma Hela cells of control group, and the expressions of Bax(P<0.01)and Smac(P< 0.01) were significantly increased in cervical carcinoma Hela cells of experimental group (P<0.01), while the expression of Bcl-XL was no significant difference between experimental group and control group (P>0.05).Conclusions1. APS has strong promotion effect on the apoptosis of cervical carcinoma Hela cells.2. The increased expressions of Bax and Smac and the decreased expressions of Bcl-2 and IAP-1 may be involved in the promoted effects of APS on the apoptosis of cervical carcinoma Hela cells.