BCL2 and gastric cancer: The pro- and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins function through protein–protein interactions in soluble and membrane-associated states.[61,62] In LoVo cells, esculetin treatment (200, 400, and 600 μM) activated caspase-3, caspase-7, and caspase-9, upregulated the expression of Bax, and downregulated the expression of Bcl-2 in a dose-dependent manner.[43] Wang et al[44] found that esculetin (850 μM) induced significant apoptosis of gastric cancer cell lines (MGC-803, HGC-27, and BGC-823) by triggering the activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.