Abstract

We investigated the relationship between anti-proliferative activity and apoptosis induction of plant-derived agents such as vinblastine, camptothecin, and plumbagin on HEp-2 cancer cell line. Analysis of cellular DNA content at different incubation time showed that vinblastine of 0.004 µg/ml caused cell-cycle arrest at G2/M phase after 26-hourincubation, camptothecin of 1 µg/ml and plumbagin of 10 µg/ml caused cell-cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase after 12-hour incubation. Flow cytometric analysis showed that after specific cell-cycle arrest phases, HEp-2 cells treated with vinblastine, camptothecin, and plumbagin went through apoptotic process. This process depends on drug concentration and incubation time.