Effect of P38MAPK signal transduction pathway on apoptosis of THP-1 induced by allicin.

Objective: The objective of this paper was to study the change of P38MAPK and Fas in the apoptosis of THP-1 cells induced by allicin.Method: The proliferation inhibition rates of THP-1 cells after various treatments were examined by MTT assay.Apoptosis rate was determined with Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining by flow cytometry.The expression and distribution change of the phosphorylation p38MAPK(P-p38MAPK) were detected by immunohistochemical staining.The changes of P-p38 MAPK and Fas proteins were detected by Western blot.Result: The proliferations of leukemia cell line THP-1 are inhibited by allicin.MTT assay showed that allicin can inhibit the proliferation of the THP-1 cell,and the inhibition was dependent on both dose and time.The IC50 of 72 hours was 12.8 mg·L-1.Apoptosis rate detected by Annexin V-FITC/PI was proportional to the concentration of the allicin.After the immunohistochemical staining test,the P-p38MAPK was located in the cell nucleus and plasma,showing deep brown,when adding allicin to THP-1 cell.Western blot test showed that the P-p38MAPK proteins expression was proportional to the concentration of Allicin and was also dose dependent.The levels of P-p38MAPK in negative control group,1/2 IC50 of 72 hours group and IC50 of 72 hours group were 0.259 8±0.013 2,0.361 2±0.008 3 and 0.505 6±0.005 5 respectively,and the levels of Fas proteins were 0.287 4±0.008 9,0.426 8±0.007 9 and 0.597 1±0.010 9 respectively.The difference was statistically significant when compared with the negative control group(P0.01).Conclusion: Allicin can significantly induce THP-1 cells apoptosis,and its mechanism may be related to the activation of P38MAPK/Fas.