A lysosomal–mitochondrial death pathway is induced by solamargine in human K562 leukemia cells

Solamargine (SM), a steroidal alkaloid glycoside from Solanum nigrum L., displayed a superior cytotoxicity to many human tumor cells. Further investigation with human K562 leukemia cells found that SM could induce an early lysosomal rupture within 2 h as assessed by acridine-orange relocation and alkalinization of lysosomes. Intracellular lysosomal rupture is also confirmed with the release of cathepsin B to cytosol detected by western blot. Subsequent mitochondrial damage including mitochondrial membrane permeabilization detected by decrease membrane potential as well as the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria was also observed. The cellular Ca2+ overload is more pronounced in SM-treated cells. Cells exposed to 10 μM SM for 30 min showed a maximum 7-fold increase in intracellular calcium concentration compared with vehicle-treated controls. The down-expression of Bcl-2, up-regulation of Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities followed by above changes revealed that the cytotoxicity of SM was involved in a lysosomal–mitochondrial death pathway induced by SM.