Apoptosis study of human colon cancer cells induced by ceramide

Objective To investigate the effect of exogenous ceramide on apoptosis of human colon cancer HT-29 cells.Methods Light microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,fluorescence microscopy and agarose gel electrophoresis were applied to detect the apoptosis of HT-29 cells induced by C_2-ceramide.MTT test was used to detect the mitochondrial function of HT-29 cells resulted by C_2-ceramide.Results Under the contribution of C_2-ceramide,HT-29 cells displayed typical apoptosis appearance,such as nuclear chromatin breakage,DNA ladder and apoptotic body etc.The rate of apoptotic cell was 64.1% and 81.3%,respectively for 12 h and 24 h,which appeared time-dependent relationship.Also ceramide damaged mitochondrial function of cells after 6 h exposed.Conclusion Exogenous ceramide induces apoptosis of HT-29 cells and participates in regulation of apoptosis in vitro.