Apoptosis of HL-60 human leukemia cells induced by Asiatic acid through modulation of B-cell lymphoma 2 family proteins and the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.

The toxicities of conventional chemotherapeutic agents to normal cells restrict their dosage and clinical efficacy in acute leukemia; therefore, it is important to develop novel chemotherapeutics, including natural products, which selectively target cancer-specific pathways. The present study aimed to explore the effect of the chemopreventive agent asiatic acid (AA) on the proliferation and apoptotic rate of the leukemia cell line HL-60 and investigated the mechanisms underlying its anti-tumor activity. The effect of AA on the proliferation of HL-60 cells was evaluated using the MTT assay. Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide double staining followed by flow cytometric analysis as well as Hoechst 33258 staining were used to analyze the apoptotic rate of the cells. Furthermore, changes of survivin, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 expressions were detected by western blot analysis. AA blocked the growth of HL-60 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The IC50-value of AA on HL-60 cells was 46.67 ± 5.08 µmol/l for 24 h. AA induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, which was inhibited in the presence of Z-DEVD-FMK, a specific inhibitor of caspase. The anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and survivin were downregulated by AA in a dose-dependent manner. Concurrently, AA inhibited ERK and p38 phosphorylation in a dose-dependent manner, while JNK phosphorylation was not affected. In conclusion, the present study indicated that the p38 and ERK pathways, as well as modulation of Bcl-2 family and survivin proteins were key regulators of apoptosis induced in HL-60 cells in response to AA.