Effect of Dihydroartemisinin on Growth of Prostate Cancer PC-3 Cells and Expression of Survivin

Objective To observe the effect of dihydroartemisinin(DHA)on the growth of prostate cancer PC-3 cells and the expression of survivin.Methods PC-3 cells were treated with DHA at various concentrations and determined for proliferation in-hibiting rate by MTT method.Nude mouse model of transplanted prostate cancer was established by injecting s.c.PC-3 cells into right axillary fossa.Twenty model nude mice were divided into blank control,DMSO control,test 1 and test 2 groups.The mice in test 1 and test 2 groups were injected i.p.with DHA at dosages of 200 and 100 μmol /kg body weight every other day respectively,and those in DMSO control group with DMSO at a dosage of 1 ml /kg body weight,while those in blank control group was untreated.Kill the mice on day 13 after treatment to observe the tumor growth and calculate the tumor inhibiting rate.The morphological change of tumor was observed by light and electron microscopy.The expression of survivin was determined by immunohistochemical assay,and the apoptosis of tumor cells by TUNEL method.Results DHA showed significantly time-and dosage-dependent inhibitory effect on the proliferation of PC-3 cells.The inhibition rate of transplanted tumors in nude mice treated with DHA was more than 60%.Scattered apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies were observed in the tumor tissues of mice in 2 test groups by both light and electron microscopy.Compared with those in blank control and DMSO control groups,the expression level of survivin in 2 test groups de-creased,while tumor cell apoptosis rate increased significantly.Conclusion DHA inhibited the growth of PC-3 cells significantly by a mechanism of down-regulating the expression of survivin and inducing the apoptosis of tumor cells.