Emodin induces apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepaRG cells via the mitochondrial caspase-dependent pathway

Dong, Xiaoxv; Ni, Boran; Fu, Jing; Yin, Xingbin; You, Longtai; Leng, Xin; Liang, Xiao; Ni, Jian

HepaRG cells, which are derived from a human hepatocellular carcinoma, express various CYPs and possess both the metabolic characteristics of primary human hepatocytes and the growth capacity of hepatic cell lines. It is useful for evaluating drug-induced hepatotoxicity and can be considered an ideal in vitro model for cytotoxicity investigation (30, 31) . In the present study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of emodin in HepaRG cells and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Our data demonstrated that emodin induces apoptotic cell death in HepaRG cells through ROS production and activation of the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Cell line and cell culture. The HepaRG cell line was purchased from Shanghai Guan&Dao Biological Engineering Co., Ltd., Jinan, China. The cells were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Gibco; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), antibiotics (100 U/ml penicillin and 100 µg/ml streptomycin). Cells were maintained at 37˚C under a humidified atmosphere containing 5% CO 2 .