Effects Of Apigenin On Apoptosis And Glutathione Content In Osteogenic Sarcoma MG-63Cell Line

ObjectiveTo investigate whether apigenin (API) induces apoptosis in human osteogenicsarcoma MG-63cells, and explore whether this mechanism is involved in depletion ofintracellular glutathione(GSH).MethodsHuman osteogenic sarcoma MG-63cell line was cultured in vitro. The apoptoticrate (the percentage of sub-G1cells) was determined by flow cytometry (FCM) usingpropidium iodide (PI) fluorescence staining. DNA fragmentation was examined usingDNA agarose gel electrophoresis. The intracellular level of GSH was measured usingspectrophotometer.ResultsFCM using PI staining showed that API significantly increased the apoptotic rate ofhuman osteogenic sarcoma MG-63cells(P＜0.05), in a concentration-dependentmanner. The ladder band could be shown in DNA agarose gel electrophoresis aftertreatment with API (40.0,80.0μmol/L) and80.0μmol/L methotrexate. Apigeninsignificantly reduced the intracellular level of GSH (P＜0.05) in MG-63cells (P＜0.05), in a concentration-dependent manner. Importantly, the pretreated with500μmol/L GSH for1h can effectively blocked the effects of apigenin on induction ofGSH depletion and apoptosis in MG-63cells. Conclusion1. API possesses the effects of induction of apoptosis in human osteogenic sarcomaMG-63cells, in a concentration-dependent manner.2. API by depletion of the intracellular GSH and thereby inducing apoptosis ofMG-63cells.