Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Inhibitory effect of puerarin on proliferation of retinoblastoma cells: An in-vitro study

Wei-Jiao Zhan, Jian-Feng Zhu, Ying Zhang

Department of Ophthalmology, Linyi People's Hospital, Linyi, Shandong, 276000, China;

For correspondence:- Ying Zhang Email: yingzhang4455@hotmail.com Tel:+865398078282

Received: 19 June 2016 Accepted: 9 June 2017 Published: 31 July 2017

Citation: Zhan W, Zhu J, Zhang Y. Inhibitory effect of puerarin on proliferation of retinoblastoma cells: An in-vitro study. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(7):1615-1620 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i7.21

© 2017 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the anti-proliferative effect of puerarin on retinoblastoma cells.

Methods: The effect of puerarin was examined on human retinoblastoma Y79 cells using cell proliferation assays and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The effect of puerarin on the cell cycle was also investigated. Western blot and RT-PCR analyses were also performed to identify the putative mechanism of action.

Results: The results showed that cell viability was suppressed by puerarin in a concentration-dependent manner with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 0.184 ± 0.034 μmol/L. Moreover, puerarin increased the proportion of cells in G1 phase from 42.6 ± 3.1 to 62.83 ± 4.1, 75.76 ± 3.4 and 91.33 ± 5.1 % in a concentration-dependent manner at concentrations of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 μmol/L, respectively. The results also indicate that Bmi-1 mRNA and protein levels decreased after puerarin treatment. Additionally, flow cytometry data showed that Bmi-1 knock-down through siRNA resulted in G1-cell cycle arrest. The proportion of cells in G1 were 51.2 ± 2.5 and 71.4 ± 4.5 % for control and Bmi-1 siRNA-treated groups, respectively.

Conclusions: The results show that puerarin exert suppressive effects on human retinoblastoma Y79 cells and therefore may find application in the treatment of intraocular tumor.

Keywords: Cancer, Puerarin, Retinoblastoma Y79 cells, mTOR inhibition, Intraocular tumor