Berberine Induced Apoptosis of Human Osteosarcoma Cells by Inhibiting Phosphoinositide 3 Kinase/Protein Kinase B (PI3K/Akt) Signal Pathway Activation

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma is a malignant tumor with high mortality but effective therapy has not yet been developed. Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid component in several Chinese herbs including Huanglian, has been shown to induce growth inhibition and the apoptosis of certain cancer cells. The aim of this study was to determine the role of berberine on human osteosarcoma cell lines U2OS and its potential mechanism. METHODS: The proliferation effect of U20S was exanimed by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo(-z-y1)-3,5-di- phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) and the percentage of apoptotic cells were determined by flow cytometric analysis. The expression of PI3K, p-Akt, Bax, Bcl-2, cleavage-PARP and Caspase3 were detected by Western blott. RESULTS: Berberine treatment caused dose-dependent inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of U20S cell. Mechanistically, berberine inhibits PI3K/AKT activation that, in turn, results in up-regulating the expression of Bax, and PARP and down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 and caspase3. In all, berberine can suppress the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of U2OS cell through inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway activation. CONCLUSION: Berberine can suppress the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of U2OS cell through inhibiting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway activation.