Liver Cancer
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2002. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 15, 2002; 8(5): 832-836
Published online Oct 15, 2002. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v8.i5.832
Apoptosis of hepatoma cells SMMC-7721 induced by Ginkgo biloba seed polysaccharide
Qun Chen, Gui-Wen Yang, Li-Guo An
Gui-Wen Yang, Li-Guo An, Department of Biology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China
Qun Chen, Department of Biology & Chemistry, Huainan Teachers College, Huainan 232001, Anhui Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Li-Guo An, The Provincial Key Laboratory, Department of Biology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, 250014, Shandong Province, China. anlg@sdnu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-531-2966142
Received: November 2, 2001
Revised: December 1, 2001
Accepted: December 3, 2001
Published online: October 15, 2002
Abstract

AIM: To study the apoptosis of hepatoma cells SMMC-7721 induced by polysaccharide isolated from Ginkgo biloba seed.

METHODS: Ginkgo biloba seed polysaccharide (GBSP) was isolated by ethanol fractionation of Ginkgo biloba seed and purified by Sephadex G-200 chromatography. The purity of GBSP was verified by reaction with iodine-potassium iodide and ninhydrin and confirmed by UV spectrophotometer, cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis and Sepharose 4B gel filtration chromatography. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Flow Cytometry (FCM) were used to examine the SMMC-7721 cells with and without GBSP treatment at 500 mg/mL for 36 h.

RESULTS: GBSP product obtained was of high purity with the average molecular weight of 1.86 × 105. Quantitative analysis of SMMC-7721 cells in vitro with FCM showed that the percentages of G2-M cells without and with GBSP treatment were 17.01% ± 1.28% and 11.77% ± 1.50% (P < 0.05), the debris ratio of the cells were 0.46% ± 0.12% and 0.06% ± 0.06% (P < 0.01), and the apoptosis ratio of cells was 3.84% ± 0.55% and 9.13% ± 1.48% (P < 0.01) respectively. Following GBSP treatment, microvilli of SMMC-7721 cells appeared thinner and the number of spherical cells increased markedly. Most significantly, the apoptosis bodies were formed on and around the spherical cells treated with GBSP.

CONCLUSION: GBSP could potentially induce the apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells.

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