Tetrazolium violet induces apoptosis via caspases-8, -9 activation and Fas/FasL up-regulation in rat C6 glioma cells.

Tetrazolium violet (TV), a tetrazolium salt, was synthesized as a novel and potent anticancer agent with a broad spectrum of anticancer activity against many cancer cells. A previous study showed that tetrazolium violet inhibited cell growth, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in C6 Rat glioma cells. It also showed that treatment of cells with TV for 24 h resulted in a dramatic up-regulation of p53, and an increase in the activity of caspase-3, accompanied with a significant increase of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. In this study, we further investigated which Fas/FasL and caspase were activated by TV during the apoptosis. Annexin-V-propidium iodide (PI) binding assay and nucleosome ELISA assay further indicated that TV induced a typical apoptosis, in a time-dose-dependent manner. The data showed that the activity of Fas/FasL and caspase-8 and -9 were significantly enhanced by the compound, which suggested that TV might be used as a Fas/FasL and caspases promoter to initiate brain cancer cell apoptosis.