Protective effects of Korean red ginseng against radiation-induced apoptosis in human HaCaT keratinocytes

Radiation-induced oral mucositis is a dose-limiting toxic side effect for patients with head and neck cancer. numerous attempts at improving radiation-induced oral mucositis have not produced a qualified treatment. ginseng polysaccharide has multiple immunoprotective effects. our aim was to investigate the effectiveness of korean red ginseng (krg) on radiation-induced damage in the human keratinocyte cell line hacat and in an in vivo zebrafish model. radiation inhibited hacat cell proliferation and migration in a cell viability assay and wound healing assay,respectively. krg protected against these effects. krg attenuated the radiation-induced embryotoxicity in the zebrafish model. irradiation of hacat cells caused apoptosis and changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (mmp). krg inhibited the radiation-induced apoptosis and intracellular generation of reactive oxygen species (ros),and stabilized the radiation-induced loss of mmp. western blots revealed krg-mediated reduced expression of ataxia telangiectasia mutated protein (atm),p53,c-jun n-terminal kinase (jnk),p38 and cleaved caspase-3,compared with their significant increase after radiation treatment. the collective results suggest that krg protects hacat cells by blocking ros generation,inhibiting changes in mmp,and inhibiting the caspase,atm,p38 and jnk pathways. © 2013 the author 2013. published by oxford university press on behalf of the japan radiation research society and japanese society for therapeutic radiology and oncology.