[Inhibition of proliferation and induction of apoptosis by tanshinone II A in NCI-H460 cell].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the inhibition of tanshinone II A in NCI-H460 cell line and its mechanism. METHODS: MTT was used to measure the levels of the proliferation of NCI-H460 cultured with tanshinone II A in different concentrations. The effects of tanshinone II A on cell cycle of NCI-H460 were observed by FCM. After treated with tanshinone II A for 48h, the level of mRNA of bcl-2 and C-myc in NCI-H460 was tested by RT-PCR method. RESULT: The proliferation of NCI-H460 was obviously inhibited by tanshinone II A in a dose dependent manner. The outcome of FCM showed that the apoptotic cell rate was 1.2%, 3.4%, 7.7% respectively, when cultured with tanshinone II A at 0.5 microg/ml for 24, 48, 72 h. The apoptotic cell rate was 2.6%, 5.9%, 13.4%, when cultured with tanshinone II A at 1.0 microg/ml for 24, 48, 72 h. The apoptotic cell rate was 4.1%, 8.7%, 37.6%, when cultured with tanshinone II A at 2.0 microg/ml for 24, 48, 72 h. The outcome of RT-PCR showed that the expression of proto-onco gene bcl-2 and C-myc was notably decrease, after cultured with tanshinone II A for 48 h. CONCLUSION: Tanshinone IIA can inhibit the proliferation of NCI-H460 and induce the apoptosis of the cell.