Apoptosis induced by β, β-dimethylacrylshikonin is associated with Bcl-2 and NF-κB in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells

作者：Xiong, Yao; Ma, Xiu-Ying; Zhang, Ziran; Shao, Zhen-Jun; Zhang, Yuan-Yuan; Zhou, Li-ming^*

来源：Oncology Letters, 2013, 6(6): 1789-1793.

DOI：10.3892/ol.2013.1613

• beta,beta-dimethylacrylshikonin
• breast cancer
• apoptosis
• nuclear factor-kappa B

beta,beta-dimethylacrylshikonin (DA) is a natural naphthoquinone derivative compound of Lithospermum erythrorhizon with various biological activities. The present study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects and underlying mechanisms of DA in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed that DA inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The half maximal inhibitory concentration of DA with regard to the proliferation of MCF-7 cells was 0.050 +/- 0.016 mM. The characteristics of cell apoptosis, including cell shrinkage, nuclear pyknosis and chromatin condensation, were all observed in DA-treated cells. DA decreased the expression levels of Bcl-2 and increased the expression of Bax and caspase-3 compared with those in the control. DA inhibited the activity of the nuclear factor (NF)-B pathway, by downregulating the expression of the p65 subunit, and inhibited the Ib phosphorylation. DA inhibits the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in vitro by inducing apoptosis through the downregulation of Bcl-2, upregulation of Bax and partial inactivation of the NF-B pathway.

• 出版日期2013-12
• 单位四川大学