1. Academic Validation
  2. Ouabain induces apoptosis and autophagy in Burkitt's lymphoma Raji cells

Ouabain induces apoptosis and autophagy in Burkitt's lymphoma Raji cells

  • Biomed Pharmacother. 2016 Dec;84:1841-1848. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2016.10.114.
Li Meng 1 Yanting Wen 2 Min Zhou 3 Jian Li 3 Ting Wang 3 Peipei Xu 3 Jian Ouyang 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Hematology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
  • 2 Department of Pathology, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
  • 3 Department of Hematology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
  • 4 Department of Hematology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: oy626@sina.com.
Abstract

The steroid Na+/K+-ATPase blocker ouabain has been shown to exhibit cytotoxic effects in various tumor cell systems. This study aimed to determine the effects of ouabain on Burkitt's lymphoma Raji cells. Ouabain treatment of Raji cells significantly inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and increased the morphological changes associated with Apoptosis. Additionally, increased numbers of both early and late apoptotic cells were observed by annexin V-FITC/PI flow cytometry assay. Increased levels of Caspase-3 and cleaved-caspase-3, higher Bax activity and decreased expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 were detected in ouabain-treated Raji cells. Vacuole accumulation was also observed in transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of ouabain-treated Raji cells, indicating that these cells were undergoing Autophagy. Expression of the autophagy-related proteins LC3-II and Beclin-1 was upregulated in ouabain-treated Raji cells. These results suggest that ouabain may promote cell death in Raji cells by inducing pathways associated with Apoptosis and Autophagy. Our study also provides novel evidence that ouabain may be an effective agent for treating Burkitt's lymphoma.

Keywords

Apoptosis; Autophagy; Burkitt’s lymphoma; Ouabain; Raji.

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