Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Anti-proliferation and apoptosis effects of Camellia nitidissima C. W. Chi extract on A549 lung cancer cells

Zhi-hui Zhang¹ , Pei Li²

¹Cancer Center, Integrated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, 510315; ²Cancer Center, Nanfang Hospital/The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, 510515, Guangzhou, China.

For correspondence:- Zhi-hui Zhang Email: zhangzhihui020@126.com Tel:+862061650124

Accepted: 21 February 2018 Published: 31 March 2018

Citation: Zhang Z, Li P. Anti-proliferation and apoptosis effects of Camellia nitidissima C. W. Chi extract on A549 lung cancer cells. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(3):395-400 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i3.2

© 2018 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Camellia nitidissima C. W. Chi extract (CNCE) on apoptosis and proliferation in A549 human lung cancer cells.

Methods: Inverted microscope was used to examine morphological changes in A549 cells after exposure to CNCE. Trypan blue staining of living cells was applied to construct the cell growth curve after treatment with varying concentrations of CNCE. The influence of CNCE on cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle were determined by MTT assay. The protein expressions of key apoptosis-related enzymes were evaluated by immuno-cytochemical method.

Results: CNCE inhibited the growth of A549 lung cancer cells at the concentration range of 20 - 160 μg/mL. Flow cytometry showed that CNCE induced apoptosis in the A549 cells. The proportion of cells in G0/G1-phase increased significantly (p < 0.01), while the proportion of cells in S-phase and G2/M-phase decreased correspondingly, indicating that the cells were in G0/G1-phase arrest. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis-inducing effect gradually increased with increase in CNCE concentration. With increasing concentrations of CNCE, there were significant increases in the expressions of caspase-3 (p < 0.05), caspase-8 (p < 0.01) and caspase-9 (p < 0.05), and significant decreases in Ki-67 (p < 0.01) and p21 ras protein (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: CNCE exerts significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells, and therefore can potentially be developed for the treatment of lung cancer

Keywords: Camellia nitidissima, Antitumor activity, Lung cancer, Apoptosis, Cell cycle arrest, Caspase