GENISTEIN DOES NOT INDUCE CASPASE 2 ACTIVATION IN VITRO ON B16 MELANOMA CELL LINES

The phytocompound genistein, a tyrosin protein kinase inhibitor, the aglicon of the heteroside genistin, represents the main compound in the soybean, Glycine max (Fam. Fabaceae). Recent studies have attributed an anticancer potential to this compound due to its pro apoptotic and anti-proliferative effects. Several papers have demonstrated that genistein is an activator of caspase 3, an effector of apoptosis on different cell lines, including murine melanoma cell lines. Few data exist however about the effect of genistein on the initiator caspase 2 expressions on different cell lines. The aim of this study was to determine if B164A5 murine melanoma cell line and its high metastatic derivate B16F10 express caspase 2, an initiator of apoptosis after exposure to different concentrations of genistein. Results have shown that, after exposure to concentrations of genistein within the range 1-150 mu M after 72 h of incubation, B164A5 cell line and its high metastatic derivative B16F10 do not express caspase 2. This result leads to the conclusion that genistein induced apoptosis is not mediated through caspase 2 signalling pathway in case of B16 murine melanoma cell lines.