Repeated subconjunctival injections with 5-fluorouacil (5-FU) after trabeculectomy are widely used in glaucoma patients for the inhibition of excess scar formation in wound site. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects of 5-FU and mechanisms of drug-induced apoptosis in cultured porcine corneal endothelial cells. Cellular damage and the caspase pathway were estimated with a MTT ...

PURPOSE This study is to investigate functional role of microRNA 96 (miR-96) in regulating cell survival and caspase-dependent apoptosis in rat retinal ganglion cell line RGC-5 cells. METHOD RGC-5 cells were cultured in vitro. Lentiviral vectors of miR-96 inhibitor, miR-96 mimics and non-specific miRNA were applied. The effects of up-regulating or down-regulating miR-96 on cell survival, apop...

Purpose: To test the effect of Cryptotanshinone (CPT), a natural compound isolated from the plant Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, on human leukemic cell lines (HL-60). Methods: HL-60 cells were treated with CPT. Cell growth inhibition (%) was quantitated using MTT assay. Apoptosis detection with Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide staining was followed by flow cytometry. Caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspas...

The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of aloe-emodin (AE)-induced photodynamic activity in human gastric cancer cells. AE was used as a photosensitizer to explore the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in human gastric cancer cells (SGC-7901). An MTT assay was used to detect the effect of AE-induced PDT in optimal concentrations and illumination energy densities in human gast...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cytotoxic effect of a hexane extract of Cassia alata leaves in A549 lung cancer cells. METHOD Parental A549 lung cancer cells were exposed to various concentrations (100-180 microg/ml) of Cassia alata leaf extract for 24 hours. Following treatment, the cells were evaluated using the 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to determi...

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) is manifested as degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra compacta. The mitochondrial dysfunction induced by oxidative stress is believed to a major cause of PD. Puerarin has been widely applied due to its estrogen nature and anti-oxidative function. This study thus investigated the protective role of puerarin against oxidative stress injury o...

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is related directly to hyperglycemia. Cell death such as apoptosis plays a critical role in cardiac pathogenesis. Whether hyperglycemia induces myocardial apoptosis, leading to diabetic cardiomyopathy, remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that apoptotic cell death occurs in the diabetic myocardium through mitochondrial cytochrome c-mediated caspase-3 activation path...

BACKGROUND Lung cancers are leading causes of cancer death, and Rumex japonicus has been traditionally used in folk medicine as anti-microorganic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents. This study was designed to investigate the anti-proliferative activity of physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) isolated from Rumex japonicus Houtt. on A549 cell lines. METHODS In our present study, PG was iso...

Heat-sensitive suspended moxibustion has a neuroprotective effect against focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The duration of heat-sensitive suspended moxibustion (usually from 30 minutes to 1 hour) is longer than traditional suspended moxibustion (usually 15 minutes). However, the effects of 15- and 35-minute suspended moxibustion in rats w...

Induction of apoptosis in target cells is a key mechanism by which chemotherapy promotes cell killing. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) and Genistein in combination with tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) induce apoptosis in endometrial cancer cell (Ishikawa) and to assess apoptotic mechanism. The MTT assay and flow cytometr...