Expression of genes in matrine-induced apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma cell line

Objective To study the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in the matrine-induced apoptosis of lung adenocarcinoma.Methods After lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were cultured,matrine of 30,60,120,240 mg/L was added separately.The inhibitory effects of matrine on the growth of A549 cells were tested by MTT method,apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax protein were detected by flow cytometry.Results Matrine with different concentrations had inhibitory effects on the growth of lung adenocarcinoma cells in a concentration-dependent manner.Bcl-2 protein expression was dramatically decreased (P ＜ 0.01) whereas the expression of Bax was increased in A549 cells after treated by matrine.Conclusions The low expression of Bcl-2 and the overexpression of Bax might play an important role in the matrine-induced apoptosis of lung. Key words: Bcl-2 ;  Bax;  Mat rine;  Apoptosis