Effects of berberine on the proliferation and apoptosis of colonic carcinoma cell line HT-29 and its mechanism

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of berberine on the proliferation and apoptosis of colonic carcinoma cell line HT-29 and clarify its ion mechanism. Methods After treatment with Berberine (0.1-30.0 μmol/L),cell proliferation was assayed by MTT method,call apoptosis measured by flow cy-tometry,and IK(V) detected by using patch clamp technique. Results 0.1-30.0 μmol/L berberine could inhibit the proliferation of HT-29 cell line significantly (P<0.05). After treatment with 0.1-30.0 μmol/L berberine for 24 h, the number of apoptosis cells was increased dose-dependently from (2.4±1.1)% in PSS group to (7.6±1.8)%,(9.8±2.1)%,(22.3±4.2%),(40.6±4.5)% in berberine group, respectively. 0.3,3.0, and 30.0 μmol/L berberine could inhibit IK(V) of HT-29 cells significantly (P<0.01). When depolarizing at +80 mV, the IK (V) of PSS group and 0.3,3.0,30.0 μmol/L berber-ine-treated groups was (488±42), (376±22), (296±25), and (225±34) pA respectively. The IK(V) in 0.3-30.0 μmol/L berberine-treated groups was (77.16±5.41)%, (61.35±6.09)%, and (45.87±7.62)% respectively compared with PSS group. Conclusion Berberine can not only inhibit the prolifera-tion of colonic carcinoma cell line HT-29,but also induce its apoptosis,which may be due to the inhibitory effect of berberine on the delayed-rectifier potassium channel of colonic carcinoma cells. Key words: Colonic carcinoma; Berberine; Apoptosis; Lon channel; Patch clamp tech-nique