BAICALIN INHIBITS THE PROLIFERATION OF GASTRIC CANCER CELLS AND INDUCES APOPTOSIS THROUGH THE DEATH RECEPTOR PATHWAY

Xiao Zhang*, **, Xuejun Hu**, Wei Xu**, Fangshi Zhu***, #

*Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, PR China - **Department of Gastroenterology, Jiangyin Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Jiangyin, PR China - ***Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Third Clinical Medical College, Nanjing, PR China

Objective: To analyze the mechanism of baicalin inhibiting the proliferation of human gastric cancer cells and inducing apoptosis through death receptor pathway.

Methods: The human gastric cancer cell line (BGG-823) was cultured in vitro and was randomly divided into control and baicalin groups with 4 concentrations (20, 40, 80, 160 μmol/L). The proliferation of gastric cancer cells after treatment with different concentrations of baicalin was detected using an MTT method. The apoptosis of cells was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of caspase3, caspas8, FASL, FAS and TRAIL gene and protein were measured by RT-PCR and western blot assay.

Results: The results of the MTT assay showed that the proliferation of the BGC-823 cell line could be significantly inhibited at time points of 24, 48, 72 and 96 h, and the proliferation rate decreased clearly with the increase of drug concentration (P<0.05). The results of flow cytometry showed that baicalin could significantly increase the apoptosis rate of cells, and the apoptosis rate gradually increased with the increase of the drug concentration (P<0.05). The results of RT-PCR and western blot assay indicated that the expression of caspase3, caspas8, FASL, FAS and TRAIL mRNA and protein in gastric cancer cells increased gradually with the increase of drug concentration (P<0.05). 

Conclusion: Baicalin can significantly inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of human gastric cancer BGG-823 cells, and its related factors may be related to the death receptor pathway.