Study The Effect Of Berberine On Human Lung Cancer A549 Cells In Vitro

Currently, cancer is a serious threat to human health. Finding an effective anti-cancer drug and method is very important in the field of the medical research in the world. Since the significant side effects of the synthetic drugs, increasingly importance has been attached to natural medicine.Berberine is extracted from the plants of Ranunculaceae such as coptischinese. It is used to heat antibacterial and anti-inflammatory in clinical detoxification. Recent studies show that berberine can induce the cell to apoptosis. While the anti-tumor effects of berberine has attracted wide attention by scholars from different countries, the mechanism of anti-tumor effect of berberine is still not a clear statement. Clarifying the mechanism of anti-tumor of berberine has an important significance to the treatment of cancer.In this study, the proliferation of A549 was determined by MTT and living cell count ; cell apoptosis was determined by cell morphology and DNA agarose gel electrophoresi; the expressions of bcl-2, bax and p53 gene and protein were analyzed by RT-PCR and western-blot; wound healing assay and adhesion test were used to observe the mobility and adhesion rate; the mRNA and protein expressions of MMP2 and MMP9 were assessed by semi-quantitive RT-PCR and gelatin zymography respectively.The results showed that berberine can significantly inhibit the proliferation of A549 within a certain range of treating time and does; the A549 cells apoptosis was confirmed by typical cell morphology and DNA fragment; the expression of bax and p53 gene and protein increased significantly and bcl-2 decreased slightly by the treatment of berberine; the migration and adhesion of A549 can inhibited significantly within a certain range of treating time and does by berberine; the mRNA and protein expression of MMP2 and MMP9 were decreased slightly by the treatment of berberine(P<0.05), especially 100μg/mL were the most significant.Therefore, it could be concluded that berberine could inhibit the growth of A549 and induct it to apoptosis. Berberine could inhibit the migration and adhesion abilities of A549 cells probably by down-regulating the expression and activation of MMP2 and MMP9.