Effect of artesunate on proliferation and morphology of MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines

Objective To study the effect of artesunate(ART)on proliferation and morphology of breast cancer MCF-7 cells.Methods After MCF-7 cells were treated with ART,MTT-assay was performed to examine the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and observe their morphological changes,and FCM(flow cytometry)assay was used to analyze the distributions of cell cycles and cell apoptosis.Statistical analysis was done using repeated measures analysis of variance.Results ART had suppressive effect on MCF-cells and with increase of the concentration and time,the suppressive effect was enhanced(P0.05),showing dose-and time-dependent.ART could inhibit the proliferation of MCF-7 cells,change the morphological structure of MCF-7 cells,and arrest MCF-7 cells in the S and G2/M phases of cell cycle.ART of 6 μmol/L and 8 μmol/L could cause 3.15% and 8.43% apoptosis of MCF-7 cells,respectively.Conclusions ART has the capability of changing morphological structure,inhibiting proliferation of MCF-7 cells and arresting MCF-7 cells in S and G2/M phases in cell cycle.It also induces apoptosis of MCF-7 cells.