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

Emodin inhibits cell viability in the HepaRG cells. MTT assay indicated that emodin inhibited the proliferation of HepaRG cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner ( Fig. 2A) . When HepaRG cells were treated with 80 µM of emodin, the cell viabilities were ~52.21% after 24 h of treatment, and then reduced to 40.32% after 48 h of treatment, respectively. Furthermore, emodin treatment also caused LDH leakage observed on HepaRG cells in a dose-dependent manner (Fig. 2B) . To further verify emodin-induced apoptosis in HepaRG cells, we analyzed morphological nuclear changes using DAPI staining. The results showed that a significant number of cells with chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation were observed compared to the untreated control (Fig. 2C) .