Derivatives of Deoxypodophyllotoxin Induce Apoptosis Through Bcl-2/Bax Proteins Expression

Background: Deoxypodophyllotoxin, isolated from theTraditional Chinese Medicine Anthriscus sylvestris, is well-known because of its significant antitumor activity with strong toxicity in vitro and in vivo.

Objective: In this article, we synthesized a series of deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives, and evaluated their antitumor effectiveness.

Methods: The anti tumor activity of deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives was investigated by the MTT method. Apoptosis percentage was measured by flow cytometer analysis using Annexin-V-FITC.

Results: The derivatives revealed obvious cytotoxicity in the MTT assay by decreasing the number of late cancer cells. The decrease of Bcl-2/Bax could be observed in MCF-7, HepG2, HT-29 andMG-63 using Annexin V-FITC. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax in the administration group was decreased, which was determined by the ELISA kit.

Conclusion: The derivatives of deoxypodophyllotoxin could induce apoptosis in tumor cell lines by influencing Bcl-2/Bax.

Keywords: Anthriscus sylvestris; Bcl-2/Bax; Deoxypodophyllotoxin derivatives; anti tumor activity; flow cytometer; tumor cell.