DHM affects the apoptotic gene expression.

<p>(A) Western blot analysis of proteins p53, Bcl-2 and Bax in HepG2 cells with DHM treatment for 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h. (B) HepG2 cells were treated with DHM (10, 25, 50, 100 and 150 μM) for 12 h. The correlation between p53 and Bcl-2 was shown by western blot assay. (C) Gene expressions of TP53, Bcl-2 and Bax in HepG2 cells treated with DHM for 12 h and 24 h, which were tested by RT-PCR assay. The expression of P53 are 1.8 and 2.8 folds higher than the control, meanwhile the expression of Bcl-2 are 0.8 and 0.4 folds lower than the control respectively. (D) Data shows the correlation between p53 and Bcl-2/Bax in HepG2 cells with DHM treatments of different concentrations for 24 h. The expression of P53 are 1.5 and 2.9 folds higher than the control, meanwhile, the expression of Bcl-2 are 0.8 and 0.5 folds lower than the control respectively. Each sample was duplicated, and the figure is representative of three independent assays(n = 6)(* P<0.05, ** P<0.01 or *** P<0.001).