Abieslactone Induces Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Hepatocellular Carcinomas through the Mitochondrial Pathway and the Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species
Figure 1
The chemical structure of abieslactone and its growth-inhibiting effect on HepG2, SMMC7721 and QSG7701 cells.
(A) The chemical structure of abieslactone. (B and C) Viability of HepG2 and SMMC7721 cells after exposure to 0.1% DMSO or various concentrations of abieslactone for 24, 48, and 72 h. The data are expressed as the means ± SEM of three independent experiments. (D) Cell viability after 5, 10, and 20 µM abieslactone treatment in HepG2, SMMC7721 and QSG7701 cells for 24 h. The results are the mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. *P<0.05; **P<0.01 vs. the untreated control. (E) The morphological nuclear changes in QSG7701 cells treated with abieslactone at different concentrations (5, 10, and 20 µM). The cells were stained with Hoechst 33258 for 30 min in the dark to examine the cleaved nuclei, which is a sign of apoptosis.