Shikonin induces apoptosis of human leukemia K562 cells

Objective:To study the effect of shikonin on the proliferation and apoptosis of human leukemia K562 cells.Methods: The growth of K562 cells exposed to shikonin was observed by MTT assay.The apoptosis of K562 cells was detected by comet assay,the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL),and flow cytometry.Results: Within the range of(1-9) ×10-5mol/L,shikonin obviously inhibited the proliferation of K562 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner,and 9×10-5mol/L shikonin which affected K562 cells for 72 h had the lowest A value;the long comet tail was presented on k562 cells which were treated with shikonin by comet assay;TUNEL showed that K562 cells became smaller and the condensed chromatin presented one or many masses;flow cytometry indicated that apoptosis of K562 cells induced by shikonin mainly occurred in G1/S phase.Conclusion: Shikonin could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of K562 cells within a certain dose range in vitro.