Study on the change of the caspase-3 activity during the 5-fluorouracil-induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells

Objective To study the change of the caspase-3 activity during the 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) -induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells. Methods The selected human hepatoma cell line HepG2 was treated with 5-Fu at 1×10 -1 ,1×10 -2 ,1×10 -3 ,1×10 -4 , 1×10 -5 mol/L and 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 h respectively. The caspase-3 activity was detected by caspase-3 Fluorescent Assay Kit. Results After the HepG2 was treated with 10 -2 mol/L 5-Fu, the caspase-3 activity increased rapidly and reached the peak (733.4±19.0) at 4 h, then gradually fell down. But compared with the control groups, it was still significantly higher ( P 0.01). With the concentration of 5-Fu increasing, the caspase-3 activity also elevated, the group of high concentration was significantly higher then that one of low concentration ( P 0.01). Conclusions Caspase-3 takes part in the regulation of the 5-Fu-induced apoptosis of hepatoma cells.5-Fu promoted the increase of caspase-3 activity in a time and concentration-dependent manner.\;