Comparison of inhibitory effects between artemisinin and artemisunate on proliferation of MCF-7 cells in vitro / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Object To study the effects of artemisinin and its analogue artemisunate on the proliferation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line, as well as their mechanism comparatively. Methods The inhibition of cell proliferation was determined by SRB method. Cell cycle was determined by flow cytometry (FCM) analysis. Apoptosis was confirmed by sub-G 1 cells content and DAPI method. Results The cell cycle of MCF-7 was changed greatly when treated 24 h with either 10 ?mol/L artemisinin or 1 ?mol/L artemisunate, the distribution of MCF-7 cells among S phase was reduced greatly, while inereased during G 0+G 1. However, artemisinin had weaker effect on the proliferation of MCF-7 cell, while artemisunate effectively inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7, the IC 50 was 0.31 ?mol/L. Apoptosis induced by 1 ?mol/L artemisunate was stronger than that by 10 ?mol/L artemisinin, too. Conclusion The inhibitory effect of artemisunate on the proliferation of tumor cell is stronger than that of artemisinin in vitro.