Musca domestica pupae lectin induces apoptosis in HepG2 cells through a NF-κB/p65-mediated caspase pathway

A new lectin (42 kDa) from Musca domestica pupae (MPL) has been known to inhibit proliferation in tumor cells. In this study, flow cytometry analysis showed that MPL induced HepG2 cells apoptosis significantly and the cells were arrested at S phase. MPL inhibited IκB-α degradation and NF-κB/p65 translocation from cytoplasm into nucleus. Simultaneously, the expressions of FLIP, which is a target gene of NF-κB/p65 were down-regulated and the caspase-8 and caspase-3 were then activated to induce apoptosis. Taken together, these results showed that MPL induced a caspase-dependent apoptosis via NF-κB/p65 pathway in HepG2 cells.