Effect of baicalein on 12-lox and 15-lox mrna expression and apoptosis in human osteosarcoma cell line (saos-2)

Baicalein is a bioactive compound isolated from Scutellaria baicalensis. Baicalein has been used for the treatment of inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and bacterial and viral infections. This study, investigated the effect of baicalein on apoptosis using Saos-2 cell line which were cultured from children and young age common cancer osteosarcoma tissues. Samples were treated with different concentrations and time periods by baicalein and results were compared with control groups. MTT method was used for the determination of proliferation. For this purpose, baicalein was applied to Saos-2 cells in different concentrations and data was collected for 24th, 48th and 72th hours. When we compared treated cells with the control cells, 2 and 4 µM concentrations of baicalein reduced the number of viable cells by over 50% with respect of time. HO / PI method was used for the determination of apoptotic and necrotic cells. Results from experiments showed that 4 µM concentration at 24 and 48 hours of applications increased apoptotic cells at a statistically significant rate. To understand the effects of baicalein on apoptosis, intracellular expressions of Bcl-XL and Bax proteins that are important in apoptosis pathway were identified using Western blot method. The effects of baicalein on 12-LOX and 15-LOX gene expressions were determined by RT-PCR method. Furthermore in this study, survivin gene expression was also studied. Results indicated that baicalein decreased the expression of survivin gene on Saos-2 cells, depending on the execution time. In addition, the study revealed that baicalein inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in Saos-2 cell line, but it had no significant effect on 12-LOX gene expression in Saos-2 cell line.