Mechanism of ursolic acid induced apoptosis in human hepatoma cell line SMMC-7721

AIM: To study the inhibitory effect and apoptosis mechanism of ursolic acid(UA) on human hepa-toma cell line SMMC-7721.METHODS: The growth inhibition of SMMC-7721 cells was assessed by MTT colori-metric assay.Morphological changes of cells were evaluated Wright-Giemasa staining and Hoechst 33258 staining after it was induced by UA.Flow cytometry was used to detect the apoptotic rate.The expression of aposptosis re-lated to genes p53 and Fas was evaluated by RT-PCR.RESULTS: UA strongly inhibited the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner.The IC50 in 24 h was 45.72 μmol/L.UA-induced apop-tosis was confirmed by Wright-Giemasa staining and Hoechst 33258 staining.Flow cytometric analyses showed UA could induce SMMC-7721 cells apoptosis and the rate of apoptosis could be increased in a time-and dose-depend-ent manner.The genes expression of p53 and Fas increased in SMMC-772 cells cultured with UA.CONCLU-SION: UA has the inhibitive effect on SMMC-7721 cells proliferation and induction of cell apoptosis related with the expressions of p53 and Fas.