Study on HepG-2 Apoptosis Induced by Saponins Isolated from Asparagus and the Effects on the Activities of Caspase-3, 8, 9

To study the effect of saponins of asparagus on apoptosis and the variations of Caspase-8, 9, 3 activity in the process of asparagus induced apoptosis in HepG-2. Cell was administrated with different concentrations of asparagus at different time, the apoptosis rate was determined by FCM with AV-PI staining, the morphology was observed by electron microscopy, Caspase-8, 9, 3 activities was measured by kit. Experiments showed that saponins of asparagus inhibited cell growth. At 72 h, the apoptosis rate increased with concentrations markedly. Apoptotic morphology was observed .The activities of Caspase-8, 9, 3 increased with concentrations markedly, which had significant difference compared with negative control group. The activity of Caspase-8 is high at 24 h and the activities of Caspase-9 and Caspase-3 is high at 48 h. Saponins of asparagus can inhibit the growth of HepG2, and the mechanism may be related to regulating Caspase-8, 9 activity, which subsequently actives Caspase-3.