SB365 induces apoptosis and suppresses proliferation of glioblastoma cells

CONTEXT: Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor with limited treatment modalities due to its nature. SB365, Pulsatilla saponin D, is known to induce apoptosis and inhibit the growth of many cancer cells. AIM: We elucidated the anticancer effects of SB365 in glioblastoma cells. METHODS: We examined the antiproliferative activity of SB365 in human glioblastoma cell lines. Apoptosis was evaluated using the Hoechst assay, TUNEL assay, DAPI nuclear staining, and Western blotting analysis. To test the antimetastatic capacity of SB365, cell migration assay was conducted, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) expression and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level were determined under hypoxic conditions. STATICAL ANALYSIS: Significance of the results was confirmed by a one-way analysis of variance analysis. RESULTS: SB365 treatment suppressed the growth of glioblastoma cells and resulted in apoptotic morphological features such as nuclear condensation and fragmentation, enhancing the expression of cleaved poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspase-3. It also significantly delayed cell migration and decreased the HIF-1α expression and VEGF secretion. CONCLUSION: Our findings thus demonstrate that SB365 induced apoptosis and delayed the growth and migration of human glioblastoma cells. It is considered that SB365 would be a promising therapeutic option for glioblastoma.