Apoptosis of Human Liver Cancer Cell Line HepG2 Induced by Chitosan

Objective:To study the apoptosis and proliferation inhibition in human liver cancer cell line HepG2 induced by chitosan.Methods:Inverted phase contrast microscope was used to observe the morphological changes of HepG2 induced by different concentrations of chitosan.The rate of apoptosis and the HepG2 DNA amount were examined by flow cytometry.The p53 and Bcl-2 protein expressions were assayed by Western blot.Results:Compared with the control apoptosis rate of 1.66%,the apoptosis rate of HepG2 cells increased 4.4 or 8.7 fold after treated by chitosan with the concentration of 0.5 or 2.0 mg/mL.The result of Western blot showed that the protein expression of p53 was increased while the protein expression of Bcl-2 was decreased.Conclusion:Chitosan can induce the apoptosis of human liver cancer cell line HepG2.