Hepatic cancer remains a challenging disease and there is a need to identify new treatments.
Sann-Joong-Kuey-Jian-Tang (SJKJT), a traditional medicinal prescription, has been used to treat
lymphadenopathy and exhibits cytotoxic activity in many types of human
cancer cells. Our previous studies revealed that SJKJT is capable of inhibiting
colon cancer colo 205 cells by inducing autophagy and apoptosis. However, the effects and molecular mechanisms of SJKJT in human
hepatocellular carcinoma have not been clearly elucidated. In the present study we evaluated the effects of SJKJT in human hepatic cellular
carcinoma Hep-G2 cells. The cytotoxicity of SJKJT in Hep-G2 cells was measured by MTT assay. The cell cycles were analyzed by fluorescence‑activated cell sorting (FACS). The
protein expression of
translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), Mcl-1, Fas, TNF-α,
Caspase-8,
Caspase-3 and Bax in Hep-G2 cells treated with SJKJT was evaluated by western blotting. The
protein expression of
Caspase-3 was also detected by immunofluorescence staining. The results showed that SJKJT inhibits Hep-G2 cells in a time- and dose‑dependent manner. During SJKJT treatment for 48 and 72 h, the half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 1.48 and 0.94 mg/ml, respectively. The FACS results revealed that increased doses of SJKJT were capable of increasing the percentage of cells in the sub-G1 phase. Immunofluorescence staining showed that Hep-G2 treated with SJKJT had increased expression of
Caspase-3. The western blot results showed that the
protein expression of Fas, TNF-α,
Caspase-8,
Caspase- 3 and Bax was upregulated, but that of TCTP and Mcl-1 was downregulated in Hep-G2 cells treated with SJKJT. In conclusion, these findings indicated that SJKJT inhibits Hep-G2 cells. One of the molecular mechanisms responsible for this may be the increased Fas, TNF-α,
Caspase-8,
Caspase- 3 and Bax expression; another mechanism may be via decreasing TCTP and Mcl-1 expression in order to induce apoptosis.