Korean J Anat.  2008 Dec;41(4):233-239.

Induction of Apoptosis by Genistein in Human Melanoma Cells

• Hur YJ
• Gil YG
• Baek CJ
• Kim IR
• Jo UB
• Kwak HH
• Park BS
• Kim GC

Abstract

Genistein is a naturally occurring isoflavone that has been identified predominantly in soybean. It has been found that genistein can inhibit the growth of various cancer cell lines. Melanoma continues to increase in incidence in many parts of the world and remains among the top six cancers as a cause of death and morbidity. Understanding and overcoming resistance mechanism(s) of melanoma to apoptosis would therefore facilitate identification of new therapeutic targets and development of new treatments. This study was undertaken to investigate whether genistein induced apoptosis on human melanoma cells (G361). Genistein had a significant dose- and time-dependent inhibitory effect on the viability of G361 cells. The death of cells was further demonstrated to be due to apoptosis characterized by chromatin condensation and apoptotic bodies by hoechst staining, and DNA electrophoresis. p53 levels were not altered by genistein treatment. Genistein treatment induced caspase-3 cleavage and activation. Poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase (PARP) and DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45), which are caspase-3 substrates, were cleaved during genistein-induced apoptosis. It was found that the caspase-6 substrate lamin A was cleaved, whose cleavage has been reported to be necessary for complete condensation of DNA during apoptosis. The expression level and phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) were reduced by genistein treatment. These results suggest that genistein may constitute a potential antitumor compound against melanoma occurring at oral mucosa and skin.

Keyword

Apoptosis; Genistein; FAK; Human melanoma cells (G361)

MeSH Terms

Apoptosis
Caspase 3
Caspase 6
Cause of Death
Cell Line
Chromatin
DNA
DNA Fragmentation
Electrophoresis
Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Genistein
Humans
Incidence
Lamin Type A
Melanoma
Mouth Mucosa
Phosphorylation
Proteins
Soybeans
Caspase 3
Caspase 6
Chromatin
DNA
Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
Genistein
Lamin Type A
Proteins