Tartary buckwheat flavonoid activates caspase 3 and induces HL-60 cell apoptosis

It has been proposed that flavonoids may have potential its anticancer agents. In this stud v, we showed that tartary buckwheat flavonoid (TBF) obviously inhibits the growth of human acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) HL-60 cells by MTT assay. The inhibitory effect of TBF on the proliferation of HL-60 cells is related to the induction of apoptosis, which, is confirmed by DNA ladder formation on gel electrophoresis and apoptosis morphological changes under light microscope. Furthermore. HL-60 cells undergo rapid apoptosis upon treatment with TBF, as indicated by increased annexin V binding capacity and caspase 3 activation with,flow cytometric. Thus, our data provide a potential mechanism for the chemopreventive activity of tartary buckwheat flavonoid and suggest that it may have it potentially therapeutic role for human leukemia. (C) 2001 Prous Science. All rights reserved.