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Fucoidan induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells by down-regulating p-Stat3

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Summary

Fucoidan is one of the main bioactive components of polysaccharides. The current study was focused on the anti-tumor effects of fucoidan on human heptoma cell line HepG2 and the possible mechanisms. Fucoidan treatment resulted in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner detected by MTT assay, flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy. The results of flow cytometric analysis revealed that fucoidan induced G2/M arrest in the cell cycle progression. Hoechst 33258 and Annexin V/PI staining results showed that the apoptotic cell number was increased, which was associated with a dose-dependent up-regulation of Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-2 and p-Stat3. In parallel, the up-regulation of p53 and the increase in reactive oxygen species were also observed, which may play important roles in the inhibition of HepG2 growth by fucoidan. In the meantime, Cyclin B1 and CDK1 were down-regulated by fucoidan treatment. Down-regulation of p-Stat3 by fucoidan resulted in apoptosis and an increase in ROS in response to fucoidan exposure. We therefore concluded that fucoidan induces apoptosis through the down-regulation of p-Stat3. These results suggest that fucoidan may be used as a novel anti-cancer agent for hepatocarcinoma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Chinese Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Sadia Roshan, Yun-yi Liu  (柳昀熠), Amal Banafa, Hui-jie Chen  (陈慧洁), Ke-xiu Li  (李克秀), Guang-xiao Yang  (杨广笑), Guang-yuan He  (何光源) & Ming-jie Chen  (陈明洁)

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  1. Sadia Roshan
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  2. Yun-yi Liu  (柳昀熠)
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  3. Amal Banafa
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  4. Hui-jie Chen  (陈慧洁)
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  5. Ke-xiu Li  (李克秀)
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  6. Guang-xiao Yang  (杨广笑)
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  7. Guang-yuan He  (何光源)
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  8. Ming-jie Chen  (陈明洁)
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Correspondence to Ming-jie Chen  (陈明洁).

Additional information

This work was supported by grants from the Wuhan Municipal Science and Technology Research Project (No. 201260523185) and the Public Science and Technology Research Funds Projects of Ocean (No. 201005013)

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Roshan, S., Liu, Yy., Banafa, A. et al. Fucoidan induces apoptosis of HepG2 cells by down-regulating p-Stat3. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 34, 330–336 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-014-1278-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-014-1278-0

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