Ginsenoside Rd from Panax notoginseng Is Cytotoxic towards HeLa Cancer Cells and Induces Apoptosis

Abstract

The saponin ginsenoside Rd (1), isolated from Panax notoginseng, is used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, different body pains, trauma, and internal and external bleeding due to injury. In this study, we report that 1 inhibits the cell growth of human cervical cancer (HeLa) cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, with an IC(50) value of 150.5+/-0.8 mcirog/ml after 48 h of incubation. The drug-treated cells displayed features of apoptosis, including typical morphological characteristics and formation of DNA ladders, as evident from agarose-gel electrophoresis. Flow-cytometric analysis showed that the cell-cycle distribution of HeLa cells exposed to 1 is characterized by a decrease of the G(0)/G(1)-phase and an increase of the S-phase cells, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. The apoptotic rate of HeLa cells treated for 48 h with 210 microg/ml of 1 was 35.8%. Further, 1 was found to increase the expression of Bax and to decrease the expression of Bcl-2 proteins, respectively, and to lower the mitochondrial transmembrane potential of HeLa cells. The caspase-3 inhibitor DEVD-CHO (at 2 microM) increased the viability of HeLa cells treated with 1. Taken together, our study suggests that ginsenoside Rd (1) significantly inhibits HeLa cell proliferation, and induces cell apoptosis through down-regulating Bcl-2 expression, up-regulating Bax expression, lowering the mitochondrial transmembrane potential, and activating the caspase-3 pathway. Thus, 1 could serve as a lead to develop novel chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agents against human cervical cancer.

Antiproliferation and Apoptosis Induced by Evodiamine in Human Colorectal Carcinoma Cells (COLO‐205)

“…After 24 h exposure to 1 (0 and 30 mm), the COLO-205 cells were fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde and 1% OsO 4 . After dehydration, the samples were embedded in Epo812 and then subjected to ultramicrotomy [29]. The sections were routinely stained and examined under a Jeol JEM-1230 electron microscope.…”

Panax notoginseng Attenuates the Infarct Volume in Rat Ischemic Brain and the Inflammatory Response of Microglia

“…CHEN (Arialiaceae [PN]), called notoginseng or sanchi, are widely used to stop hemorrhage in the blood circulation in traditional Korean medicine. Recent studies have shown that PN extracts and major compounds, such as the ginsenosides (Rb1, Rg1, Re1, and Rh1) and the notoginsenoside (R1) exert various pharmacologic activities such as limitation of liver fibrosis (24), hepatic microvascular dysfunction (25), trauma and bleeding due to internal and external injury, immunomodulation (26 -28), anti-cancer activities (29,30), and improvement in myocardial ischemia (31).…”

Induction of apoptosis in human lung carcinoma cells by the water extract of Panax notoginseng is associated with the activation of caspase-3 through downregulation of Akt

“…through the blockage of the G1 or S phase and that these cells do not enter the G2 phase. While some cell killing mechanisms of these extracts have been suggested (10,(13)(14)(15)28), little is known about their effects on the growth of human lung cancer cells. Therefore, this study examined whether WEPN induces apoptosis in human lung carcinoma A549 and NCI-H460 cells and the mechanisms related to cell death.…”

“…The main root of P. notoginseng, called notoginseng, is also known to have many pharmacological activities such as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects and it is also known to alter the functional balance of the immune system (8,9). Recently, many studies have indicated that P. notoginseng extracts inhibit the growth and metastasis of various cancer cells in vitro and in vivo that are associated with cell cycle arrest and the stimulation of apoptotic cell death (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17). However, the precise mechanisms of cell death are largely unknown in human cancer cells.…”