Effect Of Emodin On Apoptosis And Expression Of Bcl-2/Bax MRNA In Leukemia KG-1a Cells

Objective This study was aimed to explore the effects of emodin on proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction in human acute myeloid leukemia cell line KG-la cells, and to investigate the effects of Bcl-2/Bax gene.Methods KG-la cells were exposed with emodin at different concentrations. The growth inhibition was measured by MTT method. The change of cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry (FCM). The expression of Bcl-2/Bax mRNA was assessed by RT-PCR.Results Emodin could significantly inhibit the proliferation of KG-la cells. The IC50was171.8u mol/L for48hours. Emodin could block cell cycle in GO/G1phase and appear remarkable sub-G1apoptotic peak by the detection of flow cytometry. The expression level of Bcl-2was down-regulated, while expression level of Bax was obviously up-regulated.Conclusion Emodin can significantly inhabit growth and induce apoptosis of KG-la cells, which is probably related to the down-regulation of Bcl-2expression and up-regulation of Bax expression.