Green tea polyphenol targets the mitochondria in tumor cells inducing caspase 3-dependent apoptosis
Hsu, S. Lewis, J. Singh, B. Schoenlein, P. Osaki, T. Athar, M. Porter, A.G. Schuster, G.
Hsu, S.
Lewis, J.
Singh, B.
Schoenlein, P.
Osaki, T.
Athar, M.
Schuster, G.
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Abstract
Induction of apoptosis by green tea polyphenols has been observed in various tumor cell systems, but whether green tea polyphenol-induced apoptosis requires caspase 3 for execution has not been confirmed. We previously reported that green tea polyphenol-induced apoptosis involved Apaf-1 accumulation and caspase 3 activation in the cytosol. In the current study, tumor cells either with deleted caspase 3 gene or expressing wild-type caspase 3 were treated with increasing concentrations of green tea polyphenol(s), followed by morphological analysis and caspase 3 activity assay. The caspase 3 null parental cell line was further examined in comparison with a well-characterized, caspase 3 wild type oral carcinoma cell line by MTT assay and BrdU incorporation assay. The results demonstrated that, while the mitochondrial function gradually declined to insignificant levels, caspase 3 null cells did not undergo apoptosis, which suggested that green tea polyphenol-induced apoptosis is a mitochondria-targeted, caspase 3-executed mechanism.
Keywords
Apoptosis, Breast cancer, EGCG, Oral cancer, Polyphenols, Tea
Source Title
Anticancer Research
Publisher
Series/Report No.
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Date
2003-03
DOI
Type
Article