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Pseudolaric acid B induces apoptosis through p53 and bax/ Bcl-2 pathways in human melanoma a375-s2 cells

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Abstract

Pseudolaric acid B is a major compound found in the bark ofPseudolarix kaempferi Gordon. In our study, pseudolaric acid B inhibited growth of human melanoma cells, A375-S2 in a time-and dose-dependent manner. A375-S2 cells treated with pseudolaric acid B showed typical characteristics of apoptosis including morphologic changes, DNA fragmentation, sub-diploid peak in flow cytometry, cleavage of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) and degradation of inhibitor of caspase-activated DNase (ICAD). P53 protein expression was upregulated while cells were arrested at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. There was a decrease in the expression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL proteins, whereas pro-apoptotic Bax was increased. The two classical caspase substrates, PARP and ICAD, were both decreased in a time-dependent manner, indicating the activation of downstream caspases.

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Correspondence to Takashi Ikejima.

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Gong, XF., Wang, MW., Tashiro, SI. et al. Pseudolaric acid B induces apoptosis through p53 and bax/ Bcl-2 pathways in human melanoma a375-s2 cells. Arch Pharm Res 28, 68–72 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02975138

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02975138

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