Abstract
This study investigated the effects of hyperoside on apoptosis of human thyroid squamous cell carcinoma cells (SW579) and measured changes in the expression of known apoptosis regulatory players Fas/FasL and survivin. SW579 cells were treated with increasing concentrations of hyperoside. The cell proliferation inhibition rate was measured by MTT assay. Morphological changes in cells were observed by microscopy. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry using AV-PI double staining. The normalized expression levels of Fas and FasL mRNAs were detected by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and the expression of the survivin protein was detected by western blotting. Our results showed that hyperoside significantly inhibited the activity of SW579 cells; obvious morphological changes were observed and apoptosis was induced in a dose-dependent manner. Hyperoside was shown to upregulate the expression of Fas and FasL mRNAs and downregulate the expression of the survivin protein. The results suggested that hyperoside can induce the apoptosis of the SW579 human thyroid squamous cell carcinoma cell line, and partially by upregulating the expression of Fas and FasL mRNAs and downregulating the expression of survivin protein in the process of apoptosis. Further studies on the use of hyperoside against cancer cells are required.