Effects Of Dihydroartemisinin On The Prolferation And Apoptosisof Human Ovarian Cancer Cell Line SKOV-3 In Vitro

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Dihydroartemisinin on the proliferation and apoptosis in human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 in vitro and investigate the mechanism.MethodsSKOV-3 cells were divided into two groups:control and DHA. The control group is RPMI 1640, and the DHA group was subdivided into 5 subgroups according to the concentration of DHA. That is 5,10,20,40,80μmol/L. Proliferation assay was tested by MTT method on SKOV-3 cells in different groups as described above and all treated for 24,48,72 hours; Cell cycle distribution of SKOV-3 cells treated with control group and DHA (DHA concentration:20,40,80μmol/L)was determined by using flow cytometry(FCM) through PI single-labeled staining, and at the same time examined for survivin and caspase-3 by immunocytochemical staining.ResultsDHA could inhibit the proliferation of SKOV-3 cells and the inhibition was depended on the exposure dose and time(P<0.05).Inhibition ratios were 1.2%, when treated with DHA 5μmol/ml for 24h and 80μmol/ml for 72h, respectively, and that was up to 69.5%. IC50 is 74.25,60.74,34.16μmol/L when treated with DHA for 24,48,72 hours. FCM analysis showed DHA concentration had an inverse correlation with the portion of SKOV-3 cells in Go/G1 cell cycle phase and a positive correlation with which in G2/M phase after treated with DHA for 24 hours, and there was no significant deviation in S phase. Immunocytochimical staining showed low-expression of Survivin and over-expression of Caspase-3 which had correlation with DHA concentration after treated with DHA for 24 hours.ConclusionDHA could inhibit the proliferation of human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV-3 the inhibition was depended on the exposure dose and time. DHA blocked cells at G2/M phases and inducing apoptosis. The anti-tumor effects of DHA may be related to the down-regulation of the expression of survivin protein and up-regulation of caspase-3.