Abstract
To unravel the pharmacological actions of garlic, a simple thio-compound, z-ajoene, was purified from the fresh cloves. Three tumor cell lines were subjected to treatment with z-ajoene at different concentrationsin vitro and the morphological changes, DNA content of the cells and chromosome DNA fragmentation were observed by light microscopy, flow cytometry and agarose gel electrophoresis respectively. It was found that z-ajoene induced cell death by apoptosis in human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells, MGc-803 gastric mucoid adenocarcinoma cells and Molt4 T lymphocyte leukemia cells. Western blot assay showed that z-ajoene Inhibited proto-oncogene bcl-2 expression in the three different kinds of tumor cells, suggesting that z-ajoene may be a potential agent for tumor chemotherapy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belman, S., Onion and garlic oils inhibit tumor promotion,Carcinogenesis, 1983, 4: 1063.
Feldberg, R. S., Chang, S. C., Kotik, A. N.et al., In vitro mechanism of inhibition of bacterial cell growth by allicin,Antimicrobiol Agents Chemother. 1988. 32(12): 1763.
Apitz-Castro, R., Badimon, J. J., Badimon, L., A garlic derivative, ajoene, inhibits platelet deposition on severely damaged vessel wall in anin view porcine experimental model,Thromb. Res., 1994, 75(3): 243.
Hartwell, L. H., Kastan, M. B., Cell cycle control and cancer,Science, 1994, 266: 1821.
Sentman, C. L., Shutler, J.R., Hockenberg, O.et al., Bcl-2 inhibits multiple foxma of apoptosis but not negative selection in thymocytes,Cell, 1991, 67: 879.
Martin, S. J., Green, D. R., Apoptosis and cancer: The failure of controls on cell death and cell survival,Critical Rev. in Oncol. /Hematol, 1995, 18: 137.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, D., Zhang, S., Zhao, S. et al. Z-ajoene induces tumor cells to die by apoptosis. Chin.Sci.Bull. 43, 1135–1140 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02883088
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02883088