Experimental Study on Apoptosis Induced by Ginsenoside Rg3 in Human MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Line

BACKGROUNDAIM: Ginsenoside Rg3is a kind of effective chemical trace component extracted from the red panix.Many studies demonstrated that ginsenoside Rg3might block angiogenesis and inhibit tumor growth and metastasis.The mechanism of ginsenoside Rg3in anti-tumor is now one of hot point of chinese traditional medicine researches.The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of Rg3on induction apopotosis of human MCF-7breast cancer cell line. MATERAILMETHODS: The cell proliferation inhibition was measured by3-[4,5-dimethylthiazo-2-yl]-2,5diphenyl tetrazolium bromide(MTT)assay.The morphological changes of cells were observed by fluorescence staining of Hoechst33258.Cell cycle and apoptosis rate were analyzed by flow cytometry.DNA ladder was showed by agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: There was obviously a concentration-dependent relationship between Rg3and inhibition of the cell proliferation,r=0.953,(P0.05).IC 50 was71.91μg/ml Rg3after treatment for48hours.The cells treated with150μg/ml Rg3for48hours showed morphological characteristics of apoptotic cells with the condensed chromatin,the nuclear fragmentation,the apoptotic body and brighter green fluorescent.FCM assay indicated that Rg3regulated cell cycle and induced cell apoptosis.The percentage of cells in S phase and G 2 -M phase was increased,whereas the percentage of cells in G 0 -G 1 was decreased.The apoptosis rates were increased from(0.45±0.25)%to (34.86±4.65)%in MCF-7cells after treatment with Rg3for48hours.The cells treated with150μg/ml Rg3for24and48hours reveal an obvious DNA ladder. CONCLUSION: The results suggested that Ginsenoside Rg3exerts an inhibiting effect on human MCF-7breast cancer cell line by inducing apoptosis of the cells.