Resveratrol (RV), a naturally occurring phytoalexin, is known to possess a wide spectrum of chemopreventive and
chemotherapeutic effects in various stages of human tumors. p38, a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase
(MAPK) superfamily, is always activated by some extracellular stimulus to regulate many cellular signal transduction
pathways, such as apoptosis, proliferation, and inflammation and so on. In this report, we assessed the effect of
SB203580, a specific inhibitor of p38 MAPK signaling pathway, on the RV-induced apoptosis in human lung
adenocarcinoma (A549) cells. CCK-8 assay showed that pretreatment with SB203580 significantly enhanced the
cytotoxicity of RV, which was further verified by analyzing the phosphatidylserine externalization using flow cytometry.
In order to further confirm whether SB203580 accelerated apoptosis via the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, we analyzed the
dysfunction of mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) of cells stained with rhodamine 123 by using flow cytometry
after treatment with RV in the absence and presence of SB203580. Our data for the first time reported that p38 inhibitor
SB203580 enhanced the RV-induced apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway.
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