Abstract
Gallic acid (GA) induces apoptosis in different types of cancer cell lines. In this study, we investigate the apoptotic effects induced by GA in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells, and clarify the underlying mechanism. Our results showed that GA reduced the viability of HL-60 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. GA led to G0/G1 phase arrest in HL-60 cells through promoting p21 and p27 and inhibiting the levels of cyclin D and cyclin E. GA caused DNA damage and fragmentation in HL-60 cells as assayed using DAPI staining and Comet assay. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that GA increased Ca2+ levels and reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) in HL-60 cells. Apoptotic protein expressions were determined by Western blotting. The results indicated that GA-mediated apoptosis of HL-60 cells mainly depended on mitochondrial pathway, by promoting the release of cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) and endonuclease G (Endo G) and by up-regulating the protein expression of Bcl-2-associated X protein (BAX), caspase-4, caspase-9 and caspase-3. In addition, GA also activated the death receptor-dependent pathway by enhancing the protein expressions of fatty acid synthase (FAS), FAS ligand (FASL), caspase-8 and BCL-2 interacting domain (BID). We determined the mRNA expression of the gene levels of these proteins by real-time PCR. The results showed that GA-mediated apoptosis of HL-60 cells mainly depended on up-regulation of the mRNA of caspase-8, caspase-9, caspase-3, AIF and Endo G. In conclusion, GA-induced apoptosis occurs through the death receptor and mitochondria-mediated pathways. The evaluation of GA as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of leukemia seems warranted.
- Gallic acid (GA)
- human leukemia HL-60 cells
- apoptosis
- death receptor-mediated pathways
- mitochondria-mediated pathways
Gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, GA), an intermediate component of plant (1), has demonstrated antioxidant (2), antibacterial (3), antifungal and antimalarial (4), and antiherpetic action (1). GA was found to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells (5), lung cancer cell lines (6), stomach cancer cells, colon adenocarcinoma cells (7) and PC12 rat pheochromocytoma cells (8). GA can play an important role in the prevention of malignant transformation (9) and prevents amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced apoptotic neuronal death (10). GA also had antitumor effects on LL-2 (11) and NCI-H460 lung cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo (6). There is no report to show whether GA affects human leukemia HL-60 cells in vitro. In the present study, the effects of GA on the growth and apoptotic cells death of human leukemia HL-60 cells in vitro were investigated.
Materials and Methods
Chemicals and reagents. GA, propidium iodide (PI), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), ribonuclease A (RNase A), trypan blue and Triton X-100 were obtained from Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (St. Louis, MO, USA). RPMI-1640 medium, trypsin-EDTA, penicillin-streptomycin, fetal bovine serum (FBS) and L-glutamine were obtained from Invitrogen by Life Technologies (Carlsbad, CA, USA). The fluorescence probes 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA), 3,3’-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide (DiOC6), Fluo-3/AM and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) were obtained from Invitrogen.
Cell culture. Human promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60) was obtained from the Food Industry Research and Development Institute (Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.). Cells were placed into 75-cm2 tissue culture flasks and maintained at 37°C under a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 100 U/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin and 2 mM L-glutamine.
Assessments of morphological changes and viability in HL-60 cells. Cells were seeded in 24 well plates at a density of 1×105 cells/well and grown for 24 h until 80% confluency. Different concentrations (0, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 μM) of GA were added to each well and cells were incubated for 24 and 48 h at 37°C, 5% CO2 and 95% air. To determine morphological changes and cell viability, the phase-contrast microscopy and a PI exclusion method by using a FACSCalibur utilizing BD CellQuest Pro software (Becton-Dickinson, San Jose, CA, USA) were used as previously described (12-13).
Flow cytometric analysis for DNA content of HL-60 cells. To estimate cell cycle distribution in HL-60 cells, cellular DNA contents were measured by flow cytometry as described elsewhere (14-15). Approximately 2×105 cells/well in 24-well plates were treated with different concentrations of GA (0, 10, 25, 50, 75 and 100 μM) for 24 h. After cells were harvested by centrifugation, cells from each treatment were fixed by 70% ethanol in 4°C overnight and re-suspended in PBS containing 40 μg/ml PI and 100 μg/ml RNase A and 0.1% Triton X-100 in the dark for 30 min at room temperature. The cell cycle distribution was determined and analyzed by flow cytometry as described previously (14, 16).
DAPI staining for determining the apoptotic cells. Cells at a density of 1×105 cells/well were plated onto 24-well plates and incubated with different concentrations of GA (0, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 μM) for 24 h treatment before being isolated for DAPI staining as described previously (17-18). After staining, the cells were examined and photographed using a fluorescence microscope.
Comet assay for examining DNA damage. Approximately 2×105 cells/well in 12-well plates were incubated with GA at final concentrations of 0, 50, 75 and 100 μM, vehicle (1 μl DMSO) and 5 μM of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, positive control) grown for 24 h at 37°C in 5% CO2 and 95% air. At the end of incubation, cells were harvested and examined for DNA damage using the Comet assay as previously described (19-20). Comets for PI-stained DNA tails of the individual nucleus in GA-treated HL-60 cells were visualized, measured and photographed by using a fluorescence microscope and were quantified by TriTek Comet Score V 1.5 software (TriTek Crop., Sumerduck, VA, USA) (17, 21).
Detection of the level of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), Ca2+ production and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Approximately 5×105 cells/well were treated with or without 50 μM GA for 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h to detect the alterations of ΔΨm and Ca2+. Cells were harvested, re-suspended in 500 μl of DiOC6 (1 μmol/l) and Fluo-3/AM (2.5 μg/ml), respectively (13, 18) and then analyzed by flow cytometry. Untreated cells and cells treated with GA at a concentration of 50 μM for 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 12 h were stained with H2DCFDA (10 μM) in 500 μl PBS for analysis of changes in ROS (22). All of the cells were incubated with the fluorescent probes for 30 min at 37°C in a water-bath and analyzed immediately by flow cytometry as described elsewhere (13, 18, 22).
Western blotting analysis. Approximately 5×106 cells/well were treated with 50 μM GA for 0, 6, 12 and 24 h. Cells from each treatment were lysed in PRO-PREPTM protein extraction solution (iNtRON Biotechnology, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea). The total proteins from lysed cells were determined by using the Bio-Rad protocol as described previously (18, 22). The levels of proteins associated with G0/G1 phase regulation (p27, p21, cyclin E and cyclin D1/2/3) and apoptosis (fatty acid synthase (FAS), FASL, caspase-8, -9, -3, cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), endonuclease G (Endo G), BID, BAX, BCL-2 and caspase-4) were determined by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Each sample was stained with primary antibodies (Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA) and then washed twice, followed by staining by secondary antibody which was then detected by chemiluminescence (ECL kit; Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA) and autoradiography using X-ray film (17, 22).
Real-time PCR for caspase-3, -8 and -9, AIF and Endo G. The total RNA was extracted from HL-60 cells after treatment with 50 μM GA for 0, 12, 24 h by using Qiagen RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen, inc, Valencia, CA, USA) as described previously (13, 23). RNA samples were reverse-transcribed for 30 min at 42°C with High Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit according to the standard protocol of the supplier (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). Quantitative PCR was performed using the following conditions: 2 min at 50°C, 10 min at 95°C, and 40 cycles of 15 s at 95°C and 1 min at 60°C, using 1 μl of the cDNA reverse-transcribed as described above, 2× SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Applied Biosystems) and 200 nM of forward and reverse primers (Table I) (17-18). Each assay was run on an Applied Biosystems 7300 Real-Time PCR system in triplicate and expression fold-changes were derived using the comparative CT method.
Immunofluorescence staining by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Approximately 2×105 cells/well plated on 4-well chamber slides were treated without or with 50 μM GA for 24 h. Cells were then fixed in 4% formaldehyde (Sigma-Aldrich Corp.) in PBS for 15 min, permeabilized with 0.3% Triton X-100 in PBS for 1 h with blocking of non-specific binding sites using 2% BSA. Fixed cells were incubated with primary anti-AIF, anti-Endo G and anti-growth arrest DNA damage 153 (GADD153) (1:100 dilution) overnight and then exposed to the secondary antibody (fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG at 1:100 dilution), followed by DNA staining with PI. Photomicrographs were obtained using a Leica TCS SP2 Confocal Spectral Microscope (13, 19).
Statistical analysis. All data were expressed as mean±S.D. from at least three separate experiments. Statistical calculations of the data were performed by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. A p-value of less than 0.05 was taken as being statistically significant.
Results
Effects of GA on morphology and viability of HL-60 cells. After cells were treated with GA, morphological changes were examined after 24 h or 48 h exposure under a phase-contrast microscope and cell viability was determined by flow cytometry. Figure 1A shows that GA-induced morphological changes, cell membrane shrinkage and apoptotic bodies were observed. Figure 1B shows that viable cells decreased as time and concentration increased. This finding suggests that GA had a dose- and time-dependent cytotoxic effect on HL-60 cells.
GA-induced G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in HL-60 cells. Cells were treated with different concentrations of GA for 24 h, and DNA content and the sub-G1 population were examined by flow cytometry. The results showed that increased concentrations of GA led to an increase in the percentage of cells in G0/G1, and a decrease in G2/M and S phases (Figure 2A and B). The data indicated GA induced G0/G1 phase arrest of HL-60 cells. Moreover, a sub-G1 group (apoptotic cells) also appeared in the cell cycle distribution, suggesting that GA induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells (Figure 2A and C). After exposure to 50 μM GA, the percentage of apoptotic cells reached 39.43% in HL-60 cells. GA induced from 11.55% to 78.73% apoptosis of treated cells and these effects were dose-dependent (Figure 2D).
Effects of GA on the expressions of G0/G1 phase regulated proteins from HL-60 cells. Cells were treated with 50 μM GA for 6, 12 and 24 h, and we then examined the associated protein levels (p27, p21, cyclin E and cyclin D1/2/3) by Western blotting. As shown in Figure 3, the levels of p21 and p27 increased, while the levels of cyclin D1/2/3 and cyclin E decreased on treatment with GA. Based on these results, these effects might lead to G0/G1 phase arrest in GA-treated HL-60 cells.
Effects of GA on chromatin condensation and DNA damage in HL-60 cells. GA-induced chromatin condensation (an apoptotic characteristic) and DNA damage were examined by DAPI staining and Comet assay, respectively. Apoptosis of treated cells was observed by DAPI staining (Figure 4A), and the results indicated that GA induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner (Figure 4B). The comet assay showed that higher concentrations (75 and 100 μM) of GA led to a longer DNA migration smear (comet tail) (Figure 4C) as compared to the control that did not show Comet occurrence. The results further support GA-induced DNA damage in HL-60 cells in a dose-dependent manner.
Effects of GA on ΔΨm, Ca2+ and ROS. Cells were exposed to 50 μM GA for various periods of time, and ΔΨm was analyzed and quantified by flow cytometry and BD CellQuest Pro software. Results indicated that ΔΨm was significantly reduced after 24-h treatment with GA (Figure 5A). When cells were treated with 50 μM GA, Ca2+ level significantly increased at 6, 12 and 24 h exposure (Figure 5B). Nevertheless, our results showed that GA at 50 μM did not stimulate ROS production in HL-60 cells after co-incubation for 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and 12 h (Figure 5C).
Effects of GA on the expressions of apoptosis-associated proteins in HL-60 cells. In order to characterize the molecular mechanism of GA-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells, we examined the expressions of apoptosis-associated proteins by Western blotting. The protein levels of FAS and FASL were increased at early periods (6-12 h) (Figure 6A), and the levels of cytochrome c, caspase-3, -8 and -9, AIF, Endo G (Figure 6B), BID, BAX, BCL-2 (Figure 6C), and caspase-4 (Figure 6D) were up-regulated in GA-treated HL-60 cells. Thus, these findings suggest that GA-triggered apoptotic death in HL-60 cells is mediated through caspase cascades and mitochondria-dependent pathways.
Effects of GA on the mRNA expression in HL-60 cells. Total RNA was isolated and expression of apoptosis-associated genes was examined by real-time PCR after cells were treated without or with GA for 12 and 24 h. Expression levels of caspase-3, -8 and -9, AIF and Endo G mRNA were significantly increased in GA-treated HL-60 cells, as can be seen in Figure 6E.
GA translocated protein levels of AIF, Endo G and GADD153 in HL-60 cells. As shown in Figure 7, increased levels of AIF, Endo G and GADD153 were observed after treatment with GA for 24 h. In the merged panels, it can be seen that GA promoted AIF and Endo G (Figure 7A and B) release from mitochondria and GADD153 was trafficked to nuclei in HL-60 cells (Figure 7C).
Discussion
GA, one of the components in traditional Chinese medicine ‘Wen-Pi-Tang’, has been used for the treatment of various diseases, including chronic renal failure (24). Much evidence supports the anticancer activity of GA in human and mouse cell lines (25-27). In the present study, we first demonstrated that GA reduced the percentage of viable leukemia HL-60 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner (Figure 1B). We suggest that GA induced the extrinsic apoptotic pathway through FAS and the intrinsic apoptotic pathway (Figure 8). GA also induced caspase-3, -8 and -9 expression in HL-60 cells (Figure 6B). On the other hand, BCL-2 family proteins were affected, resulting in a pro-apoptotic cell environment (Figure 6C). HL-60 cells appeared to be more sensitive to GA effects as compared with normal cells (28, 29). We suggest that GA-triggered cell death was mediated through the regulation of multiple signaling pathways, which then resulted in cell apoptosis by the mechanism as shown in Figure 8.
GA induced G0/G1 phase arrest in HL-60 cells inhibiting cell cycle progression at G0/G1 phase (Figure 2B). Cell cycle arrest in cancer cells is considered one of the most effective strategies for the control of tumor growth (30). GA also interfered with the G2/M phase in colon adenocarcinoma cells (31), but it did not affect cell cycle in other cancer lines (5, 32). We suggest that GA-induced cell death or cell cycle arrest may differ depending on the type of cancer cell line used (33). Our results showed that GA-induced apoptosis was mainly associated with an increase the number of apoptotic cells (sub-G1 population) which was dose-dependent (Figure 2D). Nuclear staining with DAPI confirmed the appearance of apoptotic HL-60 cells after exposure to GA (Figure 4A and B). Moreover, GA promoted intracellular Ca2+ release (Figure 5B) and reduced the level of ΔΨm (Figure 5A), which led to the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. This is agreement with a previous study, which indicated that GA induced apoptosis through generation, Ca2+ influx and activation of calmodulin (5).
We also investigated the role of BCL-2 family proteins in GA-induced apoptosis and found an increase in the expression of BAX protein and a decrease in the expression of BCL-2 in examined HL-60 cells (Figure 6C). An increase in the ratio of BAX/BCL-2 stimulates the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytosol, promoting activation of caspase-9 which then binds to apoptotic protease activating factor-1 (APAF-1), leading to the activation of caspase-3 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) (34-35). Our results showed that HL-60 cells treated with GA, had increased protein and mRNA levels of caspase-3,-8 and -9, AIF, and Endo G protein supporting the induction of the caspase cascades in GA-induced apoptosis. It was reported that agents can induce apoptosis through AIF-mediated caspase-independent mitochondrial pathway (36-38).
The possible effects of GA on cell cycle and apoptosis-related proteins and the possible mechanism of action are summarized in Figure 8. Our findings of the present study provide new perspectives for further research on toxicology and pharmacology of GA as a possible candidate for treatment of leukemia.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by a grant from Taiwan Department of Health China Medical University Hospital Cancer Research Center of Excellence (DOH100-TD-C-111-005).
- Received April 3, 2011.
- Revision received May 24, 2011.
- Accepted May 26, 2011.
- Copyright© 2011 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved