Rosmarinic acid is one of anti-tumor ingredients in the Sarcandra glabra. After treatment with 0, 10, 30, 90, 270 and 810 μmol·L⁻¹ rosmarinic acid for 24, 48, 72 hours respectively, the inhibitory effects on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were observed by CCK-8 and cell wound healing test. No significant inhibition effecton proliferation and migration was observed in MCF-7 cell. However, 90, 270 and 810 μmol·L⁻¹ rosmarinic acid could inhibit the proliferation and migration of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry was further used to detect apoptosis ratios of MDA-MB-231 cells after Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, and significant apoptosis was observed after rosmarinic acid treatment. Real-time PCR and Western blot tests were carried out to detect the expressions of apoptosis-related genes. The down-regulation of the Bcl-2 expression and the up-regulation of the Bax expression were observed in MDA-MB-231 cells after rosmarinic acid treatment. The results suggested that rosmarinicacid can inhibit the proliferation and migration, and induce the apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 cells, which may be correlated with the down-regulation of Bcl-2 gene and the up-regulation of Bax gene.
Keywords: Bax; Bcl-2; MCF-7; MDA-MB-231; Sarcandra glabra; apoptosis; rosmarinic acid.
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