[Effects of honokiol on proliferation and apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma cell line Hela in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of honokiol on proliferation and apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma cell line Hela in vitro. METHODS: Cultured HeLa cells were treated with different concentrations of honokiol for the varieties of period (24, 48, 72, 96 h). Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT colorimetric assay. Cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry (FCM), Hoechst 33258 fluorescent staining and DNA ladder respectively. RESULTS: MTT assay demonstrated that the proliferation of Hela cells were suppressed significantly by honokiol in dose-and time-dependent manner. FCM analysis showed that the apoptosis rates of Hela cells treated with 10 microg/mL and 20 microg/mL honokiol for 24 h were 22.5% and 62.2%, respectively, while that of the control group cells was 8.7%. After treatment with honokiol, typically morphologic changes of apoptosis were observed by Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining; Genomic DNA from Hela cells treated with honokiol displayed a characteristic ladder pattern on agarose gel electrophoresis. CONCLUSION: honokiol can inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma cell line Hela.