African Journal of Medicine and Surgery

African Journal of Medicine and Surgery ISSN 3156-8734 Vol. 6 (2), pp. 001-006, February, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Induction of apoptosis by Rhizoma Paridis saponins in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells

Chuan Lu^1†, ChunJiang Li^1,2†, Dongmei Wu¹, JingMei Lu¹*, Fan Tu¹, Lijuan Wang³

¹School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin Province 130024, P. R. China.

²College of Basic Medicine, Jiamusi University, 148 Xuefu Street, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang Province 154007, P. R. China.

³Depatment of Ophthalmology, Eye Hospital, 151 East Street, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province 150001, P. R. China.

Accepted 11 July, 2018

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the induction of MCF-7 human breast cancer cell apoptosis by Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. We treated MCF-7 cells with RPS at various concentrations and examined the inhibitory effect of RPS on the proliferation of MCF -7 cells using the 4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, the change in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) using JC-1 staining, and the expression levels of related proteins using western blot. The results showed that the inhibitory effect of RPS against the growth of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells might be related to the apoptosis induced caspase family and the caspase-3-dependent pathway. The results suggest that RPS has the potential to be a valuable anticancer agent.

Key words: Rhizoma paridis saponins, MCF-7 cells, apoptosis, mitochondria