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Background: Many Chinese herbs, especially herbal injections, have been shown to have anti-tumor effects in recent years. However, since most reports focus on the clinical effectiveness of these herbs, their mechanisms of action are not well understood. In this study, we assessed apoptosis in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line HepG2 induced by an injectable extract from the seed of Coix lacryma-jobi (Semen coicis, SC), and monitored the expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-8., Methods: Injectable SC was applied to HepG2 cells at different concentrations and the cells were collected 12, 24 and 48 hours later. 5-fluorouracil was used as a positive control group, and fluorescence-activated cell-sorting cytometry was used to measure the apoptosis rate of HepG2 cells and the expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-8 proteins., Results: SC induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and the expression of caspase-8 was elevated and prolonged. However, it did not significantly influence the expression of Bcl-2., Conclusion: Injectable SC may induce apoptosis in HCC cells by regulating the expression of caspase-8.

In this study, the effects of Stichopus japonicus acid mucopolysaccharide (SJAMP) on the apoptosis of the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 were examined. The underlying mechanism was investigated by determining the effect of SJAMP on the expression of Bcl-2 and nm23-H1 genes in HepG2 cells. In vitro cultured HepG2 cells were treated with different concentrations of SJAMP. The dimethylthiazol (MTT) assay was used to determine the inhibition of cell proliferation. Expression of Bcl-2 and nm23-H1 genes was determined by Western blot analysis. The results showed that SJAMP inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, SJAMP induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells, and SJAMP decreased the expression of Bcl-2 and increased the expression of nm23-H1. We conclude that SJAMP inhibits the proliferation of HepG2 cells by inducing apoptosis. These results provide a theoretical basis for the utilization of SJAMP as a potential antitumor component for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.