Mechanistic studies on the growth inhibitory effects of berberine on human osteosarcoma cells

Objective To discuss the mechanism of the growth inhibitory effects of berberine on human osteosarcoma cell MG63.Methods MG63 cells were divided into a control group and a processing group.The inhibition ratio of two groups was measured by CCK-8 assay,and the mechanism of the growth inhibitory effect was studied by Western Blot assay.Results The inhibition ratio of MG63 cells,which were respectively treated with berberine at 0 (control group),1,5,10,20,50 μg/ml,were (99.37± 1.13) ％,(91.37±4.25)％,(72.44 ± 2.89)％,(57.33 ± 1.37)％,(50.14 ± 4.05)％ and(37.53 ± 4.14)％ after 48h.The semiquantitative expression of Bcl-2 in MG63 treated with berberine at 0 (control group),20,50 μg/ml after 48h was (0.4167±0.0115),(0.3458±0.0146),(0.2987±0.0207),while the Bax and caspase-9 was (0.4327±0.0206),(0.5007±0.0089),(0.7115±0.0214) and (0.1459±0.0107),(0.2416±0.0098),(0.2584±0.0330).Compared with the control group there was statistically significance (P＜0.05).Conclusion Berberine had inhibitory effects of on MG63.The mechanism lied in its regulating the expression of apoptosis gene Bcl-2 and Bax,activating caspases-9,and inducing cell apoptosis. Key words: Berberine;  MG63;  Growth inhibitory;  Cell apoptosis