Matrine-induced apoptosis and effect on telomerase activity in human gastric carcinoma cells SGC-7901

[Objective] To study inhibition effect of Matrine on the growth of gastric carcinoma cells SGC-7901. [Methods] The growth inhibiting rate of SGC-7901 cell in vitro were measured by MTT assay. Apoptosis rate and cell cycle were measured by flow cytometry(FCM); Morphological changes were observed with fluorescence microscope. The activity of telomerase of SGC-7901 cell was examined by PCR-ELISA. [Results] Different concentration of matrines were cytotoxic to SGC-7901 cell in time-dependent and dose-dependent manner. There were morphological changes including chromatin condensation, nuclear framentation and formed apoptotic bodies. The cell underwent apoptosis with typical morphological feature. The FCM analysis showed that the number of SGC-7901 cell of G0/G1 phase increased and the number of cell of S phase and G2/M phase decreased. At the same time, decreased telomerase activity was detected in matrine-induced apoptotic cell. Moreover, the inhibition effect on telomerase activity was enhanced in a dose-dependent and time-dependent pattern. [Conclusion] Matrine is effective in growth inhibition on gastric carcinoma cell line. Matrine-induced apoptosis and inhibition on telomerase activity may be one of the anticancer machanisms.