Delisheng, a Chinese medicinal compound, exerts anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on HepG2 cells through extrinsic and intrinsic pathways.

The anti-proliferative, cytotoxic and apoptogenic activities of delisheng, a Chinese medicinal compound, has been investigated. In this study, the hepatocarcinoma cell line (HepG2) and the liver cell line (L-02) were exposed to delisheng (6.25, 50 and 100 μl/ml). Delisheng suppressed the proliferation and viability of normal liver L-02 cells slightly, but strongly inhibited the proliferation and viability of hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells. The flow cytometric analysis of HepG2 cells demonstrated that delisheng primarily arrested the HepG2 cells at the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining corroborates the apoptogenic nature of delisheng on HepG2 cells. The anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effect of delisheng in HepG2 cells was associated with changes in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio and the induction of caspase-mediated apoptosis. Upregulation of DR5 expression was observed in HepG2 cells after treatment with delisheng. The findings from the present study suggest that delisheng has selective cytotoxic activities against HepG2 cells. Delisheng triggered time- and dose-dependent apoptosis in HepG2 cells by activating the mitochondria-mediated and death receptor-mediated apoptotic pathways.