Inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis by tanshinone IIA in C6 cells

AIM: This study was designed to investigate the inhibition of tanshinone ⅡA on C6 glioma cell line and its mechanism. METHODS: MTT was used to measure the levels of the proliferation of C6 cultured with tanshinone ⅡA at different concentrations. The effects of tanshinone ⅡA on cell cycle of C6 were observed by FCM. The change of DNA was observed by Sepharose electrophoresis. The expression of proto-oncogenes c-myc was measured by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The proliferation of C6 was obviously inhibited by tanshinone ⅡA in a dose-dependent manner. The outcome of FCM showed that the apoptotic cell rate was 7.7%, when cultured with tanshinone ⅡA at 1.0 mg/L for 3 days. The apoptotic cell rate was 21.6%, when cultured with tanshinone ⅡA at 2.0 mg/L in 3 days. CONCLUSION: Tanshinone ⅡA inhibits the proliferation of C6 cells, induces apoptosis and inhibits the expression of proto-oncogene c-myc.