Anti-proliferative of physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside isolated from Rumex japonicus Houtt. on A549 cell lines via inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.

Qi-Chao Xie,Yu-Peng Yang

doi:10.1186/1472-6882-14-377

Abstract

BackgroundLung cancers are leading causes of cancer death, and Rumex japonicus has been traditionally used in folk medicine as anti-microorganic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents. This study was designed to investigate the anti-proliferative activity of physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) isolated from Rumex japonicus Houtt. on A549 cell lines.MethodsIn our present study, PG was isolated and identified from the ethanol extracts of R. japonicus. MTT method was used to evaluate the anti-proliferative activity of PG on A549 cell lines, and cell cycle distribution assay, apoptosis assay, and western blot analysis in vitro were used to explore the possible mechanisms.ResultsFrom the results of our present study, cell viability was obviously inhibited by PG, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Our results also suggested that the anti-proliferative effect of PG was related to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase through repression of cdc2 and Cyclin B1 protein expression. In addition, the results of apoptosis assay and western blot analysis indicated that the anti-proliferative activity could be related to apoptosis via up-regulating the expressions of Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-7, and down-regulating the expressions of Bcl-2.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the PG has significant anti-proliferative activity on A549 cell lines, and the possible mechanism was related to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, and apoptosis via the regulations of Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 and caspase-7.

Highlights

Lung cancers are leading causes of cancer death, and Rumex japonicus has been traditionally used in folk medicine as anti-microorganic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents
The results showed that treatment of cells with 80 μg/mL physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) resulted in cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase in a time-dependent manner
Our results revealed PG could significantly increase apoptosis of the cells compared to medium. 20, 40 and 80 μg/mL of PG produced a 26.9%, 53.7% and 70.72% of propidium iodide (+)/annexin V (+) cells, respectively, the medium group only produced 4.86% of cells (Figure 5A)

Summary

Introduction

Lung cancers are leading causes of cancer death, and Rumex japonicus has been traditionally used in folk medicine as anti-microorganic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents. This study was designed to investigate the anti-proliferative activity of physcion 8-O-β-glucopyranoside (PG) isolated from Rumex japonicus Houtt. Rumex japonicus Houtt, a perennial herb plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae, is widely distributed throughout China (known as Yang-Ti, in Chinese). It has been traditionally used in folk medicine as antimicroorganic, purgative, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents [13,14,15], and R. japonicus contains a large number of anthraquinones, oxanthrones, and flavones [13,14,16]. The aim of the present study is to investigate the antiproliferative activity of PG based on our preliminary experiments

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