A polysaccharide from Enterobacter cloacae induces apoptosis of human osteosarcoma cells through the activation of p53 and mitochondrial intrinsic pathway.

In the present study, a polysaccharide (ECP) from Enterobacter cloacae dose and time-dependently inhibited cell growth of human osteosarcoma U-2 OS cells via induction of apoptosis. ECP treatment was selectively toxic to U-2 OS cells whereas had no cytotoxic effect on normal human osteoblast cell line NHOst. ECP-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with collapse of mitochondrial membrane, cytochrome c release into the cytosol, activation of caspase-9 and-3, degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), elevated the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 protein and overexpression of p53, suggesting the involvement of the activation of p53 and mitochondrial intrinsic pathway in ECP-induced apoptosis. Likewise, ECP oral administration significantly inhibited the U-2 OS cancer growth in xenograft tumor model. All these first evidence indicated that ECP was a potential antitumor supplement for the treatment of human osteosarcoma.