Effects of lovastatin on expression of bcl-2 in HL-60 cells

  Objective   To study the effects of lovastatin(LOV)on the expression of bcl-2 and proliferation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells, and its possible molecular mechanisms.

  Methods   The cellular proliferation capacity was observed with the growth curve assay, DNA fragmentation rate was used to detect apoptotic changes.The cell cycle distribution and apoptotic rate were measured with flow cytometry.the expression of bcl-2 mRNA was analyzed with RT-PCR.The protein expression of bcl-2 was detected by Western blotting.

  Results   The proliferation capacity was decreased in cells treated by LOV, the apoptotic rate, the DNA fragmentation rate were increased and the expression of bcl-2 was decreased in cells treated by LOV.

  Conclusion   Our study demonstrated that LOV can inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis.The down-regu2 lated expression of bcl-2 maybe play a key role in the synergistic anti-tumor of LOV.