Effects of Dihydroartemisinin on the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Colon Carcinoma Cell Line SW480

Objective: To observe the effect of Dihydroartemisinin on the proliferation and apoptosis in human colon carcinoma cell line SW480 in vitro and investigate the mechanism.Methods: The inhibition of proliferation of SW480 cells was determined by MTT test.Morphologic changes were observed under optical microscope.Distribution of cell cycle and apoptosis was analyzed using flow cytometry through PI and AnnexinV/PI double-1abeled staining.The expression of cell apoptosis-associated gene protein was detected with immunohistochemical technique.Results: Dihydroartemisinin could inhibit the proliferation of SW480 cells and the inhibition was depended on the exposure dose and time.After treated with Dihydroartemisinin for 48 h,apoptotic cells and morphologic changes could be found under optical microscope.The analysis of cell cycle indicated that Dihydroartemisinin blocked cells at G0/G1 phases,showed an increase of G0/G1 phase and a decrease of S phase.The expression of survivin was down-regulated,and caspase-3 expression was up-regulated.Conclusion: Dihydroartemisinin could inhibit the proliferation of the colon carcinoma cell line SW480 by regulating the cell cycle through arresting cells at G0/G1 phase and inducing apoptosis.The anti-tumor effects of Dihydroartemisinin may be related to the down-regulation of the expression of survivin protein and up-regulation of caspase-3.