ABSTRACT
Objective To clone cDNA of trichosanthin (TCS) and purify TCS, and to study its influence on apoptosis and growth inhibition of colorectal carcinoma LoVo cells in vitro. Methods MTT assay was adopted to measure the growth inhibition ratio of LoVo cells treated with TCS, and apoptosis was assayed by agarose gel eletrophoresis. Results The results showed that the higher concentration of TCS and the longer testing time, the stronger growth inhibition of LoVo cells. DNA agarose gel eletrophoresis showed a gradient, which confirmed that TCS could induce the apoptosis of LoVo cells. Conclusions TCS can inhibit the growth of LoVo cells in vitro and induce its apoptosis. Our study provides evidence for the application of TCS in clinical treatment of human colorectal carcinoma.