['Schizandra chinensis Baill (Magnoliaceae) fruit extract (SCE) is considered a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment and alleviation of various diseases. Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide, and the first most common in Korea.', 'This study investigates the mechanism of SCE-induced apoptosis in AGS human gastric cancer cells.', 'SCE concentrations from 100 to 400\u2009µg/ml were used. Cell viabilities were determined using MTT assay. Members of the Bcl-2 family and Bax were detected by Western blotting. RT-PCR was performed to measure the expression level of the Fas/FasL pro-apoptotic genes.', 'SCE inhibited the proliferation AGS cells for 24 or 72\u2009h (inhibition by 3.1%\u2009±\u20095.2% at 100\u2009µg/ml and 87.3%\u2009±\u20097.6% at 400\u2009µg/ml at 24\u2009h and by 40.2%\u2009±\u20095.3% 100\u2009µg/ml and 95.3%\u2009±\u20091.3% 400\u2009µg/ml at 72\u2009h) and increased the sub-G1 phase (25.3%\u2009±\u20095.2% at 100\u2009µg/ml and 370.2%\u2009±\u20097.2% at 400\u2009µg/ml) and the mitochondrial membrane depolarization (11.2%\u2009±\u20092.1% at 100\u2009µg/ml and 311.5%\u2009±\u20096.1% at 400\u2009µg/ml). The SCE-induced apoptotic cell death showed the down-regulation of Bcl-2, but up-regulation of Bax. Subsequently, SCE increased the expression level of Fas/FasL, activated caspase-9 and -3, and increased reactive oxygen species generation. Also, JNK II inhibitor or a p38 MAPK inhibitor inhibited SCE-induced cell death.'] Do schizandra chinensis extracts induce apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells via JNK/p38 MAPK activation and the ROS-mediated/mitochondria-dependent pathway?