Effects Of Diosgenin On The Human Osteosarcoma U-2OS Cell Line And Its Mechanism

Objective To test the effects of a plant steroid, diosgenin, on proliferation of the human osteosarcoma cells in vitro. Methods Three human vicious cell lines, U-2OS, SGC-7901 and ACCM, and two human normal cell lines, HUCB and hRPE, as control, were used to determine the effects on proliferation by means of MTT assay. Transmission electron microscopy was applied to investigate the effects on microstructure and ultrastructure. Flow cytometric analyses were performed to evaluate the effects on cell cycle distribution. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis was carried out to investigate the effects on the mRNA level of cyclins-CDKs-CDKIs. Results Diosgenin inhibited proliferation in all the five cell lines, however, their IC50 values were significantly different. In human osteosarcoma U-2OS cell line, diosgenin induced apoptosis, led an increase of Go/G1-phase cells and a decrease of S-phase cells, resulted in increased P27 mRNA level and decreased mRNA levels of cyclinE/CDK2 compound and cyclinD/CDK6 compound. Conclusion It was confirmed that diosgenin had a prominent inhibition effect on proliferation in the human osteosarcoma U-2OS cell line, which was due to apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and decline of cyclins-CDKs-CDKIs transcription.