Mechanism study on apoptosis induced by acanthopanax senticosus injection on cervical cancer HeLa cells

Objective To investigate apoptosis induced by Acanthopanax senticosus injection on cervical cancer HeLa cells and its mechanism in vitro.Methods The HeLa Cells were treated with different dosage of acanthopanax senticosus injection for 24 hours.The apoptotic rate of HeLa cells induced by acanthopanax senticosus injection was detected by flow cytometry based on Annexin V-FITC/PI staining.Morphological changes of apoptosis based on AO/EB staining were observed with fluorescent microscope.The expression level of caspase-3 and caspase-8 were detected by immunocytochemistry method.Results Flow cytometry analysis showed that acanthopanax senticosus injection could induce apoptosis of HeLa Cells,the apoptotic rate increased with the increase of concentration.The AO/EB staining showed that the total number of HeLa cells decreased with the increase of acanthopanax senticosus injection concentration,and part of the cells showed apoptotic morphological characteristics obviously.The immuno-histochemistry staining indicated that the expression of caspase-3 and caspase-8 proteins increased in acanthopanax senticosus injection and showed a concentration-dependent manner.Conclusions The HeLa Cells apoptosis induced by acanthopanax senticosus injection could be achieved through caspase-dependent pathway.