ABSTRACT
Paeoniflorin (PF), extracted from the peony root, has been proved to possess antineoplastic activity in different cancer cell lines. However, it remains unclear whether PF has an antineoplastic effect against osteosarcoma cells. The present study investigated the effects and the specific mechanism of PF on various human osteosarcoma cell lines. Using the multiple methods to detect the activity of PF on HOS and Saos2 human osteosarcoma cell lines, including an MTS assay, flow cytometry, transmission electron microscopy and western blotting, it was demonstrated that PF induces inhibition of proliferation, G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in the osteosarcoma cell lines in vitro, and activation of cleavedcaspase3 and cleavedpoly (ADPribose) polymerase in a dosedependent manner. Furthermore, the proapoptotic factors Bcl2 Xassociated protein and BH3 interacting domain death agonist were uregulated, while the antiapoptotic factors Bcell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) and Bcl2extra large were downregulated. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that PF has a promising therapeutic potential in for osteosarcoma.