CELL-DEATH INDUCED BY BAICALEIN IN HUMAN HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA CELL-LINES

We examined the action of baicalein, a flavonoid contained in the herb al medicine sho-saiko-to (TJ-9), on three cell lines of human hepatoce llular carcinoma (HCC). Treatment with baicalein strongly inhibited th e activity of topoisomerase II and suppressed the proliferation of all three HCC cell lines. But the mode of cell death induced by baicalein differed according to the cell line. Baicalein induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent mannner in only one cell line, and an increas ed concentration of baicalein produced cell death via necrosis in the other two lines, These results suggest that the inhibition of topoisom erase ZI is not by itself sufficient for induction of apoptosis, and t hat there is a more important mechanism which can account for the diff erence in susceptibility of cells to apoptosis induced by baicalein.