Experimental Study on Apoptosis of Murine Melanoma B16 Cells Induced by Elemene

Objective:To observe the influence of elemene on the proliferation and the apoptosis in murine melanoma B16 cells.Methods: The effects of elemene on the proliferation and the apoptosis of B16 cells that were separately treated with different dosages of elemene in vitro.were determined by MTT assay,flow cytometry and fluorescence staining analysis.Results: The cells proliferation were inhibited significantly by elemene in a dose-dependent manner.And the cells were accumulated in G0/G1 phase and the number of cells in S phase decreased.The result of morphology and flow cytometry analytic indicated that elemene could induce apoptosis of B16 cells in a dose-dependent manner.Furthermore,elemene was proved to decrease the gene expression of bcl-2 and increase the p53.Conclusion: Elemene exhibited obviously anti-proliferation effect on B16 cells in vitro by blocking cell cycle progression and inducing apoptosis.The mechanism of action is possible related to decreasing the expression of bcl-2 and increasing p53.