Inhibitory effect of vitamin K2 and phosphatidylcholine on hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Objective To investigate the synergistic effect and mechanism of vitamin K2 and phosphatidylcholine (PC) on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.Methods Synergism between vitamin K2 ( 1.25-500.O0 μ moI/L) and PC ( 1.25-400.00 μmoI/L) was studied in human hepatoma cell line SMMC-7721 in vitro with cell counting Kit-8 ( CCK-8 ) kit and Annexin V-FITC/PI kit.The key proteins of Caspase apoptosis pathway were detected by using Western blotting.Results The combined administration of vitamin K2 (500.00 μmol/L) and PC (20.00 μmol/L) induced 65.1％ apoptosis rate of HCC cells at 72nd h.Western blotting revealed the significant difference in the differential expression of procaspase-3 and procaspase-9 in the experimental group ( P ＜ 0.05 ),while procaspase-8 changed unsignificantly ( P ＞0.05 ).Conclusion Vitamin K2 and PC exhibited synergistic effects against hepatocarcinogenesis via activating Caspase-9. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatoma; Vitamin K2; Phosphatidylcholine