Objective: To explore the effect of emodin-8-O-β-D-glucoside (EG) on cell apoptosis and expression levels of Bcl-2 family proteins in human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells.
Methods: SKOV3 cells were cultured and divided into two groups (control group and experimental group). Cell viabilities were determined by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) method; apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry; the changes of protein expression of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, Bcl-2 and Bax were detected by Western blot.
Results: From the data of MTT, the cell proliferation of human ovarian cancer SKOV3 cells was inhibited by EG (20, 40, 80 mg/L) in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry assays showed that EG significantly induced apoptosis in SKOV3 cells. 48 h after treated with EG (20, 40, 80 mg/L), the apoptosis rate of the experimental group were increased gradually, and they were 23.8%, 35.5%, 59.6%, respectively, which were higher than these of the control group significantly. The data of Western blot showed that EG down-regulated Bcl-2 and up-regulated cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, Bax in a dose-dependent manner.
Conclusions: EG can inhibit the proliferation of SKOV3 cells and promote apoptosis, and the anticancer effect of EG may be associated with the down regulation of Bcl-2 expression and up regulation of Bax expression, as well as the increase of relative activity of caspase 3 and caspase 9. EG may be a promising antitumor agent for cancer treatment.