Evodiamine Induces Cell Growth Arrest, Apoptosis and Suppresses Tumorigenesis in Human Urothelial Cell Carcinoma Cells.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Evodiamine, an indole alkaloid derived from Evodia rutaecarpa, exhibits pharmacological activities including vasodilatation, analgesia, anti-cardiovascular disease, anti-Alzheimer's disease, anti-inflammation, and anti-tumor activity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study analyzes the anti-tumor effects of evodiamine on cellular growth, tumorigenesis, cell cycle and apoptosis induction of human urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) cells.

RESULTS

The present study showed that evodiamine significantly inhibited the proliferation of UCC cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Also, evodiamine suppressed the tumorigenesis of UCC cells in vitro. Moreover, evodiamine caused G/M cell-cycle arrest and induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in UCC cells. Finally, we demonstrated that evodiamine exhibits better cytotoxic than 5-fluorouracil, a clinical chemotherapeutic drug, for UCC cells.

CONCLUSION

Evodiamine induces growth inhibition, tumorigenesis suppression, cell-cycle arrest, and apoptosis induction in human UCC cells. Therefore, this agent displays a therapeutic potential for treating human UCC cells and is worthy for further investigation.