Effect of berberine on apoptosis and expression of Bax and Bcl-2 proteins in HeLa cells

Objective To investigate the effect of berberine on growth and apoptosis of human cervical cancer cell line HeLa and its possible mechanism.Methods The effect of berberine on growth of HeLa cells was studied by MTT assay.Apoptosis of HeLa cells exposed to berberine was observed by flow cytometry and DNA gel electrophoresis.The expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was studied by Western blotting analysis.Results Berberine markedly inhibited the proliferation of HeLa cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner.After incubation of HeLa cells with 20 and 40 mg/L berberine for 48 h,DNA Ladder can be observed.A typical sub-G1 peak was checked by flow cytometry.There was a very low rate of natural apoptosis(1.9±0.6)%,while in 5 mg/L berberine group,the apoptosis rate was(2.3±0.8)%.After exposing HeLa cells for 48 h to 20 and 40 mg/L berberine,the apoptosis rate reached(16.7±2.8)%(P0.01) and(29.6±4.4)%(P0.01),respectively.Western blotting showed the expression of Bax protein increased in HeLa cells,at the same time,the expression of Bcl-2 decreased in a dose-dependent manner.Conclusion In vitro berberine could inhibit the proliferation of HeLa cells and induce the apoptosis by promoting Bax and inhibiting Bcl-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner.