The anti-tumor activity of dihydroartemisinin on glioma cells

Objective To investigate the effects of dihydroartiminisin(DHA) on the proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cells. Methods We examined the effects of DHA on the proliferation and apoptosis of glioma cell line C6 by 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol- 2- yl)- 2,5- diphenyl tetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay and flow cytometry assay. The Raf/mitogen extracellular kinase(MEK)/extracelluar regulated protein kinase(ERK)signaling pathway and apoptotic protein changes were detected by Western blotting. Results The results showed that DHA effectively inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis of C6 cells in a time- and dose- dependent manner.After incubation with DHA for 24 h and 48 h, the average 50% inhibitory dose(IC50) was 96.52μmol/L and 48.70μmol/L, respectively.The cell apoptosis rate induced by 50 and 100μmol/L DHA for 10 h was(10.32±0.63)% and(24.48±1.54)%, respectively.Western blotting results revealed that the phospho- MEK and phospho- ERK were downregulated.The expression level of anti- apoptotic proteins B cell lymphoma/leukemia- 2(bcl- 2) was significantly reduced, but no changes were found in bcl- 2 associated X protein(bax). Conclusion Our findings demonstrated that DHA inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of C6 glioma cells. Key words: Glioma; Dihydroartemisinin; Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracelluar regulated protein kinase signaling pathway; Apoptosis