Sh. Hsu et al., SOLAMARGINE PURIFIED FROM SOLANUM-INCANUM CHINESE HERB TRIGGERS GENE-EXPRESSION OF HUMAN TNFR-I WHICH MAY LEAD TO CELL APOPTOSIS, Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 229(1), 1996, pp. 1-5
Solamargine possessed a potent cytotoxicity to human hepatocyte (Hep3B
) and normal skin fibroblast. The inhibition curves of solamargine to
the both cells were essentially overlapped, suggesting a parallel effe
ct for the cell death. To define mechanism of cytotoxicity of solamarg
ine, the changes of morphology and DNA content in cells were studied.
A sub-G(1) cell stage was drastically increased after 3-h incubation w
ith solamargine. The results evidence that solamargine arises cell dea
th by apoptosis. In addition, the gene expression of TNFR I were up-re
gulated within 30 min of solamargine treatment. Since TNF Receptor I h
as been involved in apoptosis, the overexpression of TNF receptor I ma
y be related with the mechanism of cytotoxicity of solamargine. This c
ommunication is the first report that a component of Chinese herbs tri
ggers gene expression of human TNFR I which may lead to cell apoptosis
. (C) 1996 Academic Press, Inc.