Emodin induces apoptosis of concanavalin A-stimulated murine splenocytes

Subin An; So Jin Bing; Jinhee Cho; Kalahe Hewage Iresha Nadeeka Madushani Herath; Areum Kim; Hyeun Wook Chang; Youngheun Jee

doi:10.1007/s10068-016-0260-y

Emodin induces apoptosis of concanavalin A-stimulated murine splenocytes

Food Sci Biotechnol. 2016 Dec 31;25(6):1693-1700. doi: 10.1007/s10068-016-0260-y. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Subin An¹, So Jin Bing¹, Jinhee Cho¹, Kalahe Hewage Iresha Nadeeka Madushani Herath^{1

2}, Areum Kim^{1

2}, Hyeun Wook Chang³, Youngheun Jee^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ 1College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243 Korea.
² 2Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Advanced Convergence Technology & Science, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243 Korea.
³ 3College of Pharmacy, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38541 Korea.
⁴ 4Veterinary Medical Research Institute, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243 Korea.

Abstract

Emodin, one of the major compounds in the herb Reynoutria elliptica, is known to maintain immunosuppressive, anti-allergic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we assessed the possibility of using emodin to induce apoptosis in stimulated immune cells in vitro. After treatment with emodin and concanavalin A (Con A), we observed DNA damage-induced apoptosis in splenocytes. Moreover, treatment with emodin and Con A increased the number of apoptotic splenocytes compared with untreated controls. Emodin also diminished the size of CD45R/B220⁺ cells, CD19⁺CD69⁺ cells, and cDC populations. These results indicate that emodin-induced apoptosis was involved in attenuating the immune activity promoted by DNA damage and in decreasing the number of CD45R/B220⁺ B cells and CD19⁺CD69⁺ activating B cells. This demonstration of emodin inducing apoptosis of Con A-stimulated immune cells indicates its potential utility as a therapy for diseases caused by abnormally activated immune cells.

Keywords: apoptosis; autoimmune disease; concanavalin A; emodin; immune cells.