AIM: To investigate the effect of ethyl docosahexaenoate (Et-DHA) on the apoptosis of human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells.METHODS:HepG2 cells were used to test the anticarcinogenicity of Et-DHA.The direct inhibition of HepG2 cells by Et-DHA was detected by MTT.Nuclear morphological features of the HepG2 cells were ob-served under fluorescence microscope after staining with Hochest 33258.The levels of Bax, Bak, Bid, Bcl-2, Smac and cytochrome C (Cyt C) in mitochondria and cytosol, the cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-9, and cleaved caspase-3 in cytosol, as well as the release of reactive oxygen species (ROS), total superoxide dismutase (SOD) and caspase-9 activity in the Et-DHA-treated HepG2 cells were determined by Western blotting and ELISA .Furthermore, by co-culturing the HepG2 cells with T cells, the effects of proliferation of Et-DHA-treated T cells on the activity of HepG2 cells were ob-served, and the level of granzyme B was detected .RESULTS:Et-DHA significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a concentration-and time-dependent manner .The ROS release and caspase-9 activity increased markedly in Et-DHA-trea-ted HepG2 cells, and no significant change of the total SOD activity was observed .The levels of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax, Bak and Bid in mitochondria increased , the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 as well as mitochondrial Cyt C and Smac lev-els decreased, and the cytoplasmic Cyt C , Smac, cleaved caspase-8, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved Bid levels showed dose-dependent increases.Additionally, the degree of Et-DHA-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells in the co-culture group (T cells+HepG2 cells) showed a further increase as compared with the HepG 2 cells treated with Et-DHA alone.Due to Et-DHA inducing elevation of granzyme B level in the T cells , the granzyme B released into HepG2 cells was significantly increased.CONCLUSION:Et-DHA might induce the apoptosis of HepG2 cells through activation of caspase-3 mainly via a mitochondrial intrinsic pathway and a caspase-8 pathway, and promote the increase in granzyme B indirectly by activating T cells, thus enhancing the cytotoxic effect on HepG 2 cells.%目的：本研究探讨了二十二碳六烯酸乙酯（Et-DHA）对人肝癌HepG2细胞凋亡的影响。方法：HepG2细胞用于检测Et-DHA的抑癌活性，MTT法检测Et-DHA对HepG2细胞的直接抑制作用，Hoechst 33258荧光染色观察细胞的形态特征，ELISA法检测Et-DHA处理后HepG2细胞的活性氧簇（ROS）释放量、总超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和caspase-9活性，Western blotting法检测胞质和线粒体中Bax、Bak、Bid、Bcl-2、Smac和细胞色素C（Cyt C），以及胞质中cleaved caspase-8、cleaved caspase-9和cleaved caspase-3的水平；T细胞与HepG2细胞共培养，进一步观察Et-DHA处理后T细胞的增殖对HepG2细胞活性的影响，并检测了颗粒酶（granzyme）B的水平。结果： Et-DHA显著抑制HepG2细胞的生长（P＜0．05），这种抑制作用具浓度效应和时程效应；Et-DHA处理后HepG2细胞的ROS释放量增加，但总SOD活性无明显变化，caspase-9活性显著上升（P＜0．05）；线粒体上的促凋亡蛋白Bax、Bak和Bid水平增加，而抑凋亡蛋白Bcl-2以及线粒体中Cyt C和Smac的水平降低，胞质中的Cyt C、Smac、cleaved caspase-8、cleaved caspase-9、cleaved caspase-3以及cleaved Bid水平呈剂量性升高。另外 T细胞和HepG2细胞共培养组在Et-DHA的诱导下，HepG2细胞的凋亡程度与Et-DHA单独作用时相比进一步增加。在Et-DHA刺激下，T细胞内granzyme B上调，释放到HepG2细胞内的granzyme B明显增多。结论：Et-DHA可能主要通过线粒体内源性途径以及caspase-8途径，激活caspase-3，诱导HepG2细胞凋亡，以及通过间接活化T细胞，促使 granzyme B增多，从而增强对HepG2细胞的毒性作用。
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