Thapsigargin increases apoptotic cell death in human hepatoma BEL-7404 cells

Abstract

Effects of thapsigargin, an inhibitor of Ca 2 + -ATPase in surface of endoplasmic reticulum, on apoptotic cell death were studied in human hepatoma cells of BEL-7404 cell line by using both flow cytometry and electron mi-croscopy. Propidium iodide staining and flow cytome-try revealed that in the serum-free condition, thapsigar-gin increased the rate of apoptosis of BEL-7404 ceils in a dose-dependent manner. Prolongation of the period of serum-free condition enhanced the apoptosis induced by thapsigaxgin treatment. Morphological observation with electron microscope further demonstrated that chromatin condensation and fragmentation, apoptotic bodies existed in TG-treated cells, supporting that thapsigargin is a po-tent activator of apoptosis in the cells.