Artemisinin reduces cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma

Zhu,Shunqin; Liu,Wanhong; Ke,Xiaoxue; Li,Jifu; Hu,Renjian; Cui,Hongjuan; Song,Guanbin

doi:10.3892/or.2014.3323

Artemisinin reduces cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in neuroblastoma

Authors:
- Shunqin Zhu
- Wanhong Liu
- Xiaoxue Ke
- Jifu Li
- Renjian Hu
- Hongjuan Cui
- Guanbin Song
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Affiliations: Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, P.R. China, State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Southwest University, Chongqing, P.R. China
Published online on: July 11, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2014.3323
Pages: 1094-1100

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Abstract

Artemisinin, a natural product from the Chinese medicinal plant, Artemisia annua L., is commonly used in the treatment of malaria, and has recently been reported to have potent anticancer activity in various types of human tumors. Yet, the effect of artemisinin on neuroblastoma is still unclear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of artemisinin on neuroblastoma cells. We observed that artemisinin significantly inhibited cell growth and proliferation, and caused cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase in neuroblastoma cell lines. Annexin V-FITC/PI staining assay revealed that artemisinin markedly induced apoptosis. Soft agar assays revealed that artemisinin suppressed the ability of clonogenic formation of neuroblastoma cells and a xenograft study in NOD/SCID mice showed that artemisinin inhibited tumor growth and development in vivo. Therefore, our results suggest that the Chinese medicine artemisinin could serve as a novel potential therapeutic agent in the treatment of neuroblastoma.

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