Procyanidins from Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. Seedpod induce autophagy mediated by reactive oxygen species generation in human hepatoma G2 cells

• LSPCs can induce autophagy and autophagic cell death of HepG2 cells.
• LSPCs stimulate reactive oxidative species generation in HepG2 cell.
• LSPCs cause DNA damage and S phase arrest in HepG2 cells.
• Alterations in mitochondrial membrane potential participate in autophagy.

In this study, autophagic effect of procyanidins from lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) seedpod (LSPCs) on human hepatoma G2 (HepG2) cells, and the inherent correlation between autophagic levels and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation were investigated. The results showed that LSPCs increased monodansylcadaverine (MDC) fluorescence intensity and LC3-I/LC3-II conversion in HepG2 cells. In addition, the typically autophagic characteristics (autophagosomes and autolysosomes) were observed in LSPCs-treated cells, but not found in the cells treated with autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA). Furthermore, the elevated ROS level was in line with the increasing of autophagy activation caused by LSPCs, however, both 3-MA and the ROS scavenger N-acetylcyteine (NAC) inhibitors effectively suppressed the autophagy and ROS generation triggered by LSPCs. As a result, these results indicated that LSPCs induced HepG2 cell autophagy in a time- and dose-dependent manner, and promoted reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation on HepG2 cells. Moreover, we found that LSPCs caused DNA damage, S phase arrest and the decrement of mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) which were associated with ROS generation. In summary, our findings demonstrated that the LSPCs-induced autophagy and autophagic cell death were triggered by the ROS generation in HepG2 cells, which might be associated with ROS generation through the mitochondria-dependent signaling way.