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Quercetin-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells by reducing PI3K/Akt

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Abstract

To explore the effect and mechanism of quercetin on proliferation and apoptosis of leukemia cells, and provide a theoretical basis for its clinical application. HL-60 leukemia cell lines was treated with different dose quercetin, the proliferation activity of leukemia cells was assessed by MTT method; the morphological changes of apoptosis of HL-60 cells, including nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation, were observed by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining, the apoptosis rate and caspase 2,3 activation were assessed by flow cytometry, and the cell signal pathway including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), phosphorylated protein kinase B (pAkt), Bcl-2, Bax were detected by western blotting. Quercetin could significantly decrease the proliferation activity of HL-60 cells through the blockade of G0/G1 phase, and induce the apoptosis of HL-60 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Quercetin caused leukemia cells apoptosis by decreasing the protein expression of PI3K and Bax, the inhibitory phosphorylation of Akt, the decreased levels of Bcl-2 protein and increased activations of caspase-2 and -3, and increased poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. Our results indicate that the apoptotic processes caused by quercetin are mediated by the decrease of pAkt and Bcl-2 levels, the increase of Bax level, and the activation of caspase families in HL-60 cells.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Hubei Province Natural Science Foundation Project (2009CDA063, 2010CDB08006, 2011CDB129), Hubei Province education Science Foundation Project (T201112) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (81170095). We thank the international scientific editorial company for the helpful instruction in editing this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hematology Department, Affiliated Dongfeng Hospital, HuBei University of Medicine, Shiyan, 442000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Yuan, Chen Long & Liu Qihuan

  2. Institute of Clinical Medicine, HuBei University of Medicine, Shiyan, 442000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Tang Junming

  3. Institute of Hepatobiliary Surgery and Organ Transplant, HuBei University of Medicine, Shiyan, 442000, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Zhang Youshun & Zou Chan

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  1. Zhang Yuan
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  2. Chen Long
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  3. Tang Junming
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  4. Liu Qihuan
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  5. Zhang Youshun
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  6. Zou Chan
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Correspondence to Chen Long.

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Yuan, Z., Long, C., Junming, T. et al. Quercetin-induced apoptosis of HL-60 cells by reducing PI3K/Akt. Mol Biol Rep 39, 7785–7793 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-1621-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-012-1621-0

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