Inhibitory effect of cucurbitacin B on proliferation of human colon cancer cells

Abstract

Objective To investigate the inhibitory effect of cucurbitacin B on proliferation of human colon cancer cells.Methods LS174-T cells were treated with different concentrations of cucurbitacin B (0.01,0.10,1.00,10.00,and 100.00 mol/L) for 24,48 and 72 h.The cell proliferation was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method,and the distribution of cell cycle by flow cytometry.signaling transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3),Caspase-3,and Tert mRNA were detected by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR).Results CCK-8 results showed that after treatment with cucurbitacin B (0.01 and 100.00 moL/L) for 24 h,inhibitory rate of LS174-T cell proliferation was (5.22 ±2.02)％ and (73.90 ± 1.85)％ respectively.After treatment with 100.00 mol/L of cucurbitacin B for 24 h and 48 h,inhibitory rate was (73.90 ± 1.85)％ and (98.84 ±0.51)％ respectively.The statistically significant difference was dose-and time-dependent (P ＜ 0.05).Flow cytometry revealed that as compared with control group,the percentage of cells in G2/M phase in 1.00 μmol/L concentration group was increased [(6.33 ± 0.74) ％ and (30.43 ± 4.09) ％],and that in G0/G1 phase decreased [(78.5 ± 4.72) ％ and (43.2 ± 5.65) ％] with the difference being statistically significant (P ＜0.05).The FQ-PCR indicated that after treatment with cucurbitacin B of 0.01 and 10.00 mol/L for 24 h,STAT3 level was 0.750 0 ±0.003 8,0.660 0 ±0.005 5,respectively.After treatment with cucurbitacin B of 0.10 μmol/L for 24 h and 48 h,Caspase-3 mRNA level was 4.30 ±0.29 and 6.79 ±0.13 respectively with the difference being statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Cucurbitacin B can inhibit proliferation of colon cancer cells. Key words: Cucurbitacin B; Colon cancer; Proliferation