4-Acetyl-12,13-epoxyl-9-trichothecene-3, 15-diol from Isaria japonica mediates apoptosis of rat bladder carcinoma NBT-II cells by decreasing anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression and increasing pro-apoptotic Bax expression.

We studied the effect of 4-acetyl-12,13-epoxyl-9-trichothecene-3, 15-diol (AETD) isolated from Isaria japonica, one of the most popular Chinese fungal medicines, on the induction of apoptosis in rat bladder carcinoma NBT-II cells. AETD was cytotoxic to NBT-II cells, and this cytotoxic effect appears to be attributed to its induction of apoptotic cell death, as AETD induced nuclear morphological changes and internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and increased the proportion of hypodiploid cells and activity of caspase-3. AETD treatment also decreased the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and increased the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. These results provide important information in understanding the mechanism(s) of AETD-induced apoptosis.