Bee venom(BV) of Apis Melliferais(A.M.) an complex compound with pharmacology and biological activities. In some study has been confirmed that BV can alleviate pain and reduce allergy. Although, BV has been confirmed that inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in some cancer cell. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in BV-induced apoptosis are still unclear in human breast cancer cells. In this study, we find that BV inhibited proliferation of human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) in the concentration-dependent and dose-dependent. The result of Flow cytometry demonstrated that BV decreased mitochondrial membrane potential(MMP) by releasing reactive oxygen species(ROS) in one hour. Apoptosis was also confirmed by DAPI staining of MCF-7 cells after exposed to different time of BV. Based on the results from Comet assay, it was also indicated that BV induced DNA damage in MCF-7 cells. Based on the result from western blotting, BV can reduce expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL through Bax activation, and reduced MMP lead cytochrome c releasing from mitochondria, increase expression of caspase 9 , Apaf-1 and caspase 3. BV also increase expression of Fas , caspase 8 and tBid.
