The generation of ROS is associated with the disruption
of the mitochondrial-membrane potential, and mitochondrial-membrane
depolarization is considered to be a crucial
hallmark of apoptosis. In our study, rhodamine 123 was used
as a fluorescent probe to detect the loss of MMP. Fig. 6B shows
that the mean rhodamine 123 fluorescence decreased from
86.97 (0 h) to 82.8 (12 h) and 74.83 (24 h) following treatment
with 25 µM B16, suggesting that mitochondria were involved
in the observed B16-induced apoptosis.