Guo Wei-Qiang, Li Liang-Zhi, He Zhuo-Yang, Zhang Qi, Liu Jia, Hu Cui-Ying, Qin Fen-Ju, Wang Tao-Yun
School of Chemistry, Biology and Material Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, Jiang Su Province, China E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(11):6363-7. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2013.14.11.6363.
Atractylis lancea (Thunb.) DC. (AL), an important medicinal herb in Asia, has been shown to have anti-tumor effects on cancer cells, but the involved mechanisms are poorly understood. This study focused on potential effects and molecular mechanisms of AL on the proliferation of the Hep-G2 liver cancer cell line in vitro. Cell viability was assessed by MTT test in Hep-G2 cells incubated with an ethanol extract of AL. Then, the effects of AL on apoptosis and cell cycle progression were determined by flow cytometry. Telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) assays was performed to investigate telomerase activity. The mRNA and protein expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and c-myc were determined by real-time RT-PCR and Western blotting. Our results show that AL effectively inhibits proliferation in Hep-G2 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. When Hep-G2 cells were treated with AL after 48h,the IC50 was about 72.1 μg/ mL. Apoptosis was induced by AL via arresting the cells in the G1 phase. Furthermore, AL effectively reduced telomerase activity through inhibition of mRNA and protein expression of hTERT and c-myc. Hence, these data demonstrate that AL exerts anti-proliferative effects in Hep-G2 cells via down-regulation of the c-myc/hTERT/ telomerase pathway.
茅苍术（Atractylis lancea (Thunb.) DC.，AL）是亚洲一种重要的药用植物，已显示出对癌细胞具有抗肿瘤作用，但其相关机制尚不清楚。本研究聚焦于AL对体外培养的Hep-G2肝癌细胞系增殖的潜在影响及其分子机制。通过MTT试验评估与AL乙醇提取物共孵育的Hep-G2细胞的活力。然后，通过流式细胞术确定AL对细胞凋亡和细胞周期进程的影响。采用端粒重复序列扩增法（TRAP）检测端粒酶活性。通过实时RT-PCR和蛋白质印迹法测定人端粒酶逆转录酶（hTERT）和c-myc的mRNA和蛋白质表达。我们的结果表明，AL以浓度和时间依赖性方式有效抑制Hep-G2细胞的增殖。当Hep-G2细胞在48小时后用AL处理时，IC50约为72.1μg/mL。AL通过将细胞阻滞在G1期诱导细胞凋亡。此外，AL通过抑制hTERT和c-myc的mRNA和蛋白质表达有效降低端粒酶活性。因此，这些数据表明，AL通过下调c-myc/hTERT/端粒酶途径在Hep-G2细胞中发挥抗增殖作用。
