Abstract
BackgroundOxymatrine, an isolated extract from traditional Chinese herb Sophora Flavescens Ait, has been traditionally used for therapy of anti-hepatitis B virus, anti-inflammation and anti-anaphylaxis. The present study was to investigate the anti-cancer effect of oxymatrine on human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells, and its possible molecular mechanism.MethodsThe effect of oxymatrine on the viability and apoptosis was examined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium and flow cytometry analysis. The expression of Bax, Bcl-2, Bcl-x (L/S), Bid, Bad, HIAP-1, HIAP-2, XIAP, NAIP, Livin and Survivin genes was accessed by RT-PCR. The levels of cytochrome c and caspase 3 protein were assessed by Western blotting.ResultsOxymatrine inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis of PANC-1 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. This was accompanied by down-regulated expression of Livin and Survivin genes while the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio was upregulated. Furthermore, oxymatrine treatment led to the release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase-3 proteins.ConclusionOxymatrine can induce apoptotic cell death of human pancreatic cancer, which might be attributed to the regulation of Bcl-2 and IAP families, release of mitochondrial cytochrome c and activation of caspase-3.
Highlights
Oxymatrine, an isolated extract from traditional Chinese herb Sophora Flavescens Ait, has been traditionally used for therapy of anti-hepatitis B virus, anti-inflammation and anti-anaphylaxis
Monoclonal antibodies to Bcl-2, Bax, Bid, Bad, Bcl-x (L/S), HIAP-1, HIAP-2, XIAP, NAIP, Livin, Survivin, cytochrome c, caspase 3 and b-actin were purchased from Cell Signal, USA
Oxymatrine inhibiting PANC-1, BxPc-3 and AsPC-1cells viability The inhibitory effect of oxymatrine on the growth of PANC-1, BxPc-3 and AsPC-1 cells was assessed by the MTT assay
Summary
Oxymatrine, an isolated extract from traditional Chinese herb Sophora Flavescens Ait, has been traditionally used for therapy of anti-hepatitis B virus, anti-inflammation and anti-anaphylaxis. The present study was to investigate the anti-cancer effect of oxymatrine on human pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells, and its possible molecular mechanism. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. It can only be managed with surgical treatment in limited cases, whereas the majority of cases presented advanced tumors responds poorly to current available medical therapies [1]. Similar to other tumor types, insufficient cell death and/or excessive proliferation appears to be a major unfavorable feature of pancreatic cancer [2]. Sophora flavescens ait (kushen), a traditional Chinese herb, has been used as folk medicine for many kinds of Investigations in inducing programmed cell death and deepening the understanding of molecular mechanisms may provide important value to develop new therapeutic options.
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